The Journey
by DisguisedasInnocent
Summary: Gary Oak is a new Pokemon trainer hailing from the town of Pallet in the Kanto region. His adventures lead to him making a lot of new friends and rivals, as well as a few enemies! Follow Gary and his friends on their own journey.
1. Pallet Town

Chapter One: A Traveling Partner.

There are creatures in this world called Pokemon. They inhabit the places of the world where humans do not, but they also coexist with people. They work together to create a better world, or at least a better harvest. Some people study Pokemon, these people are called Pokemon Professors; they study the behaviour, the habits and the evolution of the many different species of Pokemon. The foremost expert in the field of Pokemon research is Professor Samuel Oak, who resides in the Town of Pallet in the Kanto region. He studies Pokemon as a profession after becoming too old to travel the world and capture new species. Now in his Pokemon Laboratory he studies both the Pokemon he caught himself when he was a trainer and the ones that new trainers send to him.

Many Pokemon Professors are envious of Professor Oak's Pokemon preservation; the fields , forests and lakes surrounding both his laboratory and Pallet Town belongs to the Professor and house the many Pokemon that he researches. It is also the place where the Pokemon from trainers who left Pallet run free in the wild when they are sent to him. Being the Pokemon Professor in Pallet Town meant that Professor Oak has a few extra responsibilities. The first and foremost is to provide new trainers from Pallet Town with they're starter Pokemon; traditionally either a Charmander, a Bulbasaur or a Squirtle (Fire, grass and water types respectively). This means that at least one day a year the Professor takes time off his research to help new trainers to chose their partners. Of course, this year is no different.

To start a Pokemon journey the trainers have to be over the age of ten at the very least before the Professor will provide them with a Pokemon to look after. Sometimes this is thought too young, but usually the newest trainers go from strength to strength with their partners making their ways further and further away from Pallet Town and home. It is always hard for the people left behind but as ever in Pallet, the slow gentle pace of life moves on.

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It was a bright sunny June morning when our story begins properly.

Our young hero (yet to be seen if he lives up to that title or not)a boy who has just reached the age of fifteen, has been preparing to start his Pokemon journey the next morning. The boy's name was Gary Oak. He was the grandson of Professor Oak but not much else about his family was known. He is an only child living alone with his mother.

Gary Oak was roughly five foot three inches tall which was impressive considering his age. While he wasn't as muscular as some of the older boys his body was lean and toned, the muscles shaped and formed to compliment his body perfectly. The boy's unruly dark chestnut brown hair naturally spiked up from the back of his neck moving up until the spikes started to fall forwards across his forehead. No matter what was done to Gary's hair it was still as messy as ever looking like the boy had constant bedhead.

Right now the time is eleven fifteen at night and young Gary should be in bed but instead he is glued to the television watching a battle from the previous years Indigo Plateau Pokemon Championship Competition. The battle was a fierce one to decide which of the two trainers was going to make it through to the finals to fight for the right to be called Indigo Pokemon Champion. One trainer had sent out the Ghost type Pokemon Gengar; the other was using a Poison type called Nidorino. The Nidorino started the attack with a powerful Horn Attack, jutting it's head forward as it ran towards the Gengar trying to pierce it's skin with it's poison horn, but failing spectacularly because of the Gengar's superior dodging abilities. Then it was Gengar's turn to go on the offensive sending out a powerful Hypnosis attack putting the Nidorino to sleep.

Watching this Gary was getting more and more psyched up to start traveling. He imagined himself being at the Pokemon League in a years time, standing right where one of those two trainers were, battling to move forward in the competition, him and his Pokemon winning match after match after match. The smirk on his face spread and grew, his bright chocolate eyes glazing over a little as he imagined standing on the podium in first place; Indigo League Pokemon Champion.

Grinning boyishly he indulged one of his fantasies by picking up a replica Pokeball from his bedside table. The Pokeball was actually his alarm clock. "Hear me Pokemon of the world." He said in a slightly childish voice moving as if he was about to thrown the Pokeball to catch a Pokemon, "I, Gary Oak, will become a Pokemon Master!"

Then he threw the ball across the room lost in his imagination, only to hear something he didn't want to.

"Gary Oak!" An irate voice shouted through the young boy's hardwood door a second before the door was thrown open. The woman who appeared through the door was Gary's mother, May Oak. She was a redhead with a temper to match but generally she was a laid back individual with a lot of patience. As the ball traveled towards her with speed May deftly plucked it out of the air and opened it to reveal the clock face, "What are you doing up and awake at eleven thirty young man!"

Staring at the clock and then his mother's face Gary struggled to come up with an excuse as for why he was awake, dressed and throwing his alarm clock around his bedroom, "Um, well, you see... I was watching this Pokemon program... and err... lost track of time?" He tried smiling as innocently as he could.

May just sighed at her son, walked over to the bedside table to put the Pokeball alarm clock back there, "Well, if you are going to be up all night watching Pokemon, at least watch something useful." She said softly, taking the boy's remote and changing the channel, "This is a rerun of one of Grandpa's Pokemon talks about the three starter Pokemon. It might be useful for you to watch."

"Oh alright, thanks mom." Gary replied already losing himself in the Pokemon on the screen.

Walking out of her son's bedroom May closed the door behind her and smiled softly to herself, "He's just like his father and grandfather. He'll be fine tomorrow."

It was twelve midnight by the time that the Pokemon rerun was over, but Gary was far too excited about the next morning to go to bed. Instead he changed into his pajamas and settled himself in front of his computer. By logging onto the mainframe that his Grandpa had set up for his Pokemon studies Gary was able to see where different types of Pokemon appeared, what their strengths and weaknesses were and what different Pokeballs worked best to capture them. Normally when he was on the mainframe Gary would be researching a type of Pokemon for his Grandpa because he loved to help out with his work. However this time Gary inputted the information for Pallet Town and the Pokemon that were known to commonly appear in the surrounding area Route One.

"Okay, so Pidgey, Spearow, Rattata are commonly found around the Route One area. Pidgey and Spearow are generally woodland or tall grass with a few trees while Rattata are more exclusive to the tall grass. Pidgey evolves into Pidgeotto at level eighteen and then into Pidgeot at level thirty six; Pidgey are known to have a docile nature and this says that they are perfect for new trainers to capture. I think I should go after a Pidgey first then." The ten year old muttered to himself softly, making sure not to alert his mother that he was still awake. "And possibly stay away from Spearows... though that might be hard because they like the same habitat as the Pidgey." Scratching the back of his neck the boy glanced at the clock before deciding that he was going to have to get to bed.

"I'm leaving first thing in the morning... but I'll be back in a year to prepare for the Indigo League!" Gary vowed to himself, shutting down the computer and settling into bed, falling asleep dreaming about Pokemon. As always.

In the morning Gary was awoken by a piercing beeping sound making its way through the walls of his subconscious into his dreams. The brunette groggily turned his head to look at where the offending noise was coming from, "Ah, the alarm." He said after a moment, his mind not yet woken up properly. He was wondered why his alarm was going off.

However a few seconds later yesterday clicked and Gary bolted out of bed and over to his wardrobe. "Leaving today... leaving today." He chanted over and over again happily. Thumbing through his clothes Gary struggled to pick out what would make the best traveling clothes. In the end that job was taken away from him when his mother walked through the door.

"Good morning son," She said moving over to the boy, ruffling his hair, "Bedhead as always, I sometimes wonder why I expect this to go away one day."

"Don't know Mom." Gary replied his voice gruff wishing that his mother would learn to leave his hair alone. He smiled, something he wouldn't miss about being in Pallet is way that his Mom ruffled his hair every morning.

"So what are you doing?" May asked a few seconds later noticing Gary had just continued to stand there staring at his clothes.

"Trying to pick out a good traveling outfit. I've got some spare jeans and t-shirts in my bag but I need something to wear today." Gary replied, sifting through the clothes again.

May sighed and shook her head. Sometimes Gary could be the most organised person in the world, but other times he was just like a little boy. "I could help you know."

Before Gary could reply May was in front of his wardrobe looking through his clothes. After a couple of minutes searching she pulled out a pair of very dark purple cargo pants that were made out of a strong material, "Here." She said handing them to her son, "These are good." Then she moved onto finding a t-shirt and some kind of jacket for the boy. " These as well," May turned to her son holding out a black t-shirt and a jacket that had short black sleeves and a blue body with a large white pocket area in the front, there was also a black hood on the back. "Shoes wise you should wear those leather boots that your Grandpa brought you not too long ago."

"Okay." Gary replied, taking the clothes from his Mom and shooing her out the door.

A couple of minutes later Gary appeared outside his bedroom door with a backpack thrown over his back which contained everything he was going to need on his journey. The bag was split in half vertically down the middle with a weeks supply of clean underwear, socks and a couple of t-shirts, a spare pair of jeans and two pairs of shorts in one half and cooking equipment, food and snacks for a week in the other side. Tied onto the bottom of the bag of a super compressed sleeping bag and in the right hand side pocket there was a water bottle waiting to be filled up. Gary had already decided that he was going to carry an A5 sized paper book of maps for all the routes he would be taking so he didn't get lost. That was inside the largest cargo pocket on his right leg. Around his waist the belt he was wearing would also hold the Pokeballs that would have his Pokemon in them and a little bag around his waist attached to the belt would hold spare balls so he could catch more Pokemon on the go.

May met the brunette by the front door, after wiping a few blondish red locks from her eyes she bent down and wrapped her arms around her son, "Take care honey."

"I will, promise Mom." Gary replied turning his head a little so that his mother wouldn't see the tears in his eyes. He was going to miss her while he was away; no matter how much she could annoy him she was still his mother after all. "You'll see, I'll be back in no time qualified for the Pokemon League!"

"Just see that you are back in one piece please." Was all that May said in reply, standing up and waving Gary off as he marched down the path from their gate determinedly. "Good luck Son." She whispered to herself turning around when she couldn't see him any more and going back inside the house.

Gary didn't turn around when he walked away from his house because he knew that his mother was still watching him and he didn't want to see her sad. After all he couldn't turn around and tell her that he wouldn't leave because he'd been looking forward to going on this journey since he was a little boy and now was his chance to make her and his Grandpa proud of him. He wasn't going to let them down.

After Gary had walked down his street and turned onto the main road he quickly looked at his watch and smiled to himself, "Seven thirty. I'm so going to be early."

As he walked the brunette took the chance to take in Pallet Town because he knew that he wouldn't be returning there for a while. Pallet in itself is a quaint town, the houses were small and homely as if they were inviting people to live in them. The streets were more often than not just dirt sometimes with weeds going everywhere trampled by the foot traffic. Fields stretched out around Pallet Town on one side and the sea on the other nestling Pallet Town between them. Overall Pallet was a quiet place where there was never any sort of trouble, it was peaceful. It was the perfect place for a Pokemon research centre, because there were no big cities or companies or anything around to disturb the environment and habitats.

Of course the other thing about Pallet Town was that it was still quite a small town in view and so it didn't take Gary all that long to walk from his house up to his Grandpa's mansion. The gate up to the main doorway had been left open for the new trainers so that they could just walk up the stairs. Walking the winding pathway of stairs Gary found himself wondering about which of the three starter Pokemon he was going to take, each of them had their advantages, but each had their disadvantages too. It was something that Gary would have to be careful of when he chose which one he wanted. Upon reaching the front door Gary pressed the doorbell and held the button down for a moment hearing the loud ringing go off around the mansion before he released the button.

On the other side of the door there was a loud crash before a creaking noise came and the door was thrown open to reveal Professor Samuel Oak, Gary's grandfather and the foremost expert on Pokemon in the Kanto region. The greying man smiled down at his grandson, shaking his head slightly, "I should have known you'd be here early too."

The Professor stood back and opened the door wider so that Gary could enter through it. "Well, just getting a head start is all." Gary replied as he shrugged.

"Not as much of a head start as you thought you would be getting I'm sure. Three other Pallet Town trainers have already turned up, received their Pokemon and their starter packs then left." The Professor replied motioning for Gary to follow him up the stairs to his Pokemon laboratory.

"So what does that mean for the starter Pokemon?" Gary asked worriedly.

"Well, it means you won't be getting a conventional starters. That's all Gary." Professor Oak said gently, tapping the boy on the shoulder to get him to follow him over to the dais in the middle of the room, "Here is where I kept the starter Pokemon reserved for members of Pallet Town. Normally this would be the time that I ask you if you want a Charmander, a Bulbasaur or a Squirtle but as you can see, all their Pokeballs are empty. Instead you get another one I've picked out which I think will suit you just fine." The Professor picked up one of the two Pokeballs that were in the middle of the dais and opened it. A flash of white light burst out of the ball and formed a shape on the floor. A beautiful brown fox like creature appeared on the floor and Gary smiled brightly.

"An Eevee!" He laughed and held out his hand for the Pokemon to smell. "Hey there little guy."

"This Eevee has a kind nature but he is a fierce battler at the same time, he'll be a good Pokemon for you Gary, just remember to treat him well and train him properly. It might take some time, but you'll be able to see the advantages of proper training in no time. I'm sure about that." The Professor smiled and handed Gary Eevee's Pokeball, "Now another thing, Eevee doesn't really like being inside a Pokeball, so it's probably best not to force it to go inside one, being out in the open will do it no harm."

"Okay Eevee, you ready for our journey?" Gary asked the small Pokemon softly scratching it behind the ears.

"Eevv.." The small Pokemon mewed softly then nodded it's head as if it understood Gary.

"It's a smart little one too, don't be fooled by the cuteness." Professor Oak joked, "Now, onto the other matters..." He turned around and wondered over to his desk, grabbing a thin red box like object and a set of six round Pokeballs before returning to Gary. "Here are your Pokeballs, they are used to catch Pokemon in, but I'm sure you knew that. And here is your Pokedex, it records the data on Pokemon you've caught and seen. It also allows you to see the data on Pokemon that you scan with it. It'll be a great help along your journey Gary."

"Thank you Grandpa." Gary said slipping the Pokedex into a pocket in the front of his jacket and the Pokeballs into the bag on his belt. "Anything else?"

"Well yes," Professor Oak reached into the pocket in his lab coat and pulled out a thin booklet, "This is a guide to entering the Pokemon League, the Gyms you'll find along the way, where you need to go to sign up and the routes you'll need to take to go places. Its a present to help you along the way," The Professor blushed slightly, "Its from me and May so you don't get lost."

"Anyone else getting one?" Gary asked, eying what seemed like to be another book in the Professor's pocket.

"Ash Ketchum. His Mom wanted to give him something useful but didn't want it to seem like it was from her because she doesn't want to baby him any more. So I agreed to give it to him when he arrives to collect his Pokemon." The Professor frowned at that moment and turned to look at the clock, "Which should be any moment now."

"Ashy-boy late as usual." Gary replied smirking.

It was then that the door bell rang and an out of breath voice called through the front door, "Professor Oak! I'm here! I'm here to get my Pokemon!"

That was the sound of Ash Ketchum arriving late after not sleeping the night before and waking up to a smashed alarm clock an hour or two later than he hoped to. Of course to complicate matters Ash and Gary have been rivals since they were both young children, once they were friends but then they tried to best each other at everything and their friendship went downhill. Nonetheless Gary still grudgingly respected his rival because of the fact that he never gave up, something he liked to think was true of himself too.

"Gary, I'm sorry to cut this short, but could you please go let Ash in? I'm afraid that he'll scare the Pokemon if he doesn't stop screaming." Professor Oak asked turning to his Grandson. "You can stay if you want?"

"Nah, I think I'll be on my way to Viridian now Grandpa. There is a lot for me to see and I've got to get started, now I have Eevee I'm all set for the road ahead." Gary replied turning towards the stairs. "I'll call you when I'm in Viridian later Grandpa, so you and Mom know I'm fine!"

With that Gary and Eevee walked slowly down the stairs and over to the front door. Smirking the brunette pressed down on the handle and pulled the door open sharply. He side stepped when Ash fell face first onto the floor because he'd been leaning against it. A second later the young boy was on his feet again, wiping himself down.

"What was that for Gary?" Ash asked in a rather annoyed tone glaring up at the older boy.

"I was just opening the door. Not my fault a loser was stuck to the front of it." Gary shrugged and smirked at Ash. "Grandpa's waiting for you in his Lab Ashy-boy."

However Ash seemed more focused on the Eevee that was rubbing itself along Gary's leg affectionately, "Is that your Pokemon?" He asked excitedly.

Once again Gary found a smirk spreading across his lips, "The one and only at the moment."

"So cool!" Ash exclaimed and ran up the stairs forgetting all about Gary and Eevee in his rush to get his new Pokemon.

Shaking his head the older boy just walked through and closed the door behind himself. He turned to look back at the mansion and Pallet Town once more before he started in the direction of Route One, and the beginning of his quest to be a Pokemon Master.


	2. Route One

**A/N:** The second chapter is now up! Please, any questions and you can PM me. Oh... and review with what you think, where I could do better and any of your thoughts! Thanks.

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Chapter Two: Starting a Team.

The sun hung high in the sky sending powerful rays of light down upon the sun baked earth even while the clouds gathered overhead. The wind blew through the trees stirring the leaves and bending the branches as it grew in strength. The sun sparkled off the river below, in the ravine small Pokemon swam in its depths playing with one another in the cool water as other small Pokemon drank from the waters edge.

Route One was the track-way that connected Pallet Town in the south with the larger Viridian City northward. It was not very far away from the town, about a day's steady walk. Generally it was an easy peaceful journey made with the sun shining down from the sky brightly. The track-way was formed by many feet compounding the soft earth into a harden pathway, however, in some places the path was overgrown with bushes from the forest creeping in on either side. In other places the path cut through the forest growing narrower for a way before passing through clearings.

Trees of all different types overhung the edges of the track, their leaves littered the earth in the autumn and were swept away during the winter months. It was however the middle of summer and the sun beat down upon the earth as it did every summer. The clouds passed across the sun causing shadows to obscure the pathway every now and then with increasing frequency as the sky darkened minutely with every hour that passed.

It was along this road that Gary Oak walked, his leather boots making little to no noise against the soft crumbly earth. Only his breathing and voice disturbed nature's soundtrack. The little brown fur covered fox walked at Gary's side, every now and then disappearing off into the undergrowth to see what new something it had found in the bushes, as such was the inquisitive Pokemon's nature.

Gary hiked the backpack further up on his shoulder, preferring for the moment to carry it upon only one of his shoulders leaving the other arm free of the strap. When the time came that he would need to walk more than a day without any proper shelter he would have the backpack on properly. Right now he was happy to leave the bag where it was and walk slowly, but steadily behind his playful little Eevee.

The pair were just walking past an old looking tree stump. They saw a little purple fur covered mouse or rat like Pokemon sticking it's nose out from under the bushes and sniffing around. Slowly and carefully the Pokemon looked around as if it were assessing the danger of coming out before it started to creep forward.

The peaceful smile on the brunette boy's face changed to one of an excited grin. While keeping his eyes on the little Pokemon he turned to Eevee and asked him softly, "Shall we?"

Eevee purred softly and moved in front of Gary, sinking down into what the brunette was already thinking of as his fighting stance. Gary knew that with Pokemon you could not always go by their size or what type they were because of his work on his Grandpa's preserves. He also knew that if he was going to become a Pokemon Master he would have to catch Pokemon that were strong to help him battle his way up to the top. Of course, what better way to start on the road to being a great trainer than to catch a couple of Pokemon on his first day?

"Eevee!" Gary called commandingly, not letting his nerves about the battle interfere at all, "Tackle attack, now."

Eevee didn't take more than a couple of seconds to respond to Gary's command, but in those seconds the little purple Pokemon looked up at the pair and turned tail to run towards the bushes obviously frightened. Eevee was a fast runner and was starting to catch up to the purple one. It seemed like only a couple of seconds more and Eevee would be on top of the rat Pokemon and then that would be the end of it. That was not how the battle was going to end.

In the few seconds that it took Eevee to get on the smaller Pokemon's tail it had changed course slightly and was heading straight towards the old tree stump. Gary saw what was going to happen in his mind's eye seconds before it did. Sadly he was too slow to help Eevee avoid the fate he had seen. The purple furred Pokemon changed direction at the last second and jumped away from the hard trunk of the tree stump. Eevee however was not so lucky and ended up barreling straight into the wood.

He lay there dazed for a couple of seconds. The couple of seconds that the purple furred Pokemon needed to get away from the two newbies and back into the forest safely.

Gary ran up to Eevee's side and took him gently into his arms holding the little Pokemon to his chest and stroking it's stomach. "Are you okay pal?" He asked softly.

"Eve." Eevee replied shaking it's head from side to side as if it would help clear it. He jumped down from Gary's arms onto steady feet and glared at the tree stump as if he was wishing intensely that it was not there.

"We'll get it next time boy." Gary replied softly, reaching his hand down into his pocket and pulling out the red device that his Grandpa had given him. "This is supposed to be a device called a Pokedex Eevee. Grandpa said something about it recording the data of Pokemon that I've caught. He also said you can scan a Pokemon you see and have the basics read out to you or something like that. As far as I understand it anyway..."

The brunette pressed a small button on the side of the crimson red device, it was a thumb sized black one on the right edge of the device. As soon as he pressed it the Pokedex's cover opened to reveal a keypad and screen. "Aha." Gary remarked smiling at the little success. "Okay... programming to search for Pokemon on Route One with purple fur resembling a rat."

A mechanical voice came out of the Pokedex surprising both Gary and Eevee, "Computing options... search results found. Rattata, a common scrub land Pokemon often preferring areas with a mixture of long grass and forest. These rat like Pokemon are often found around tracks or paths. They like to steal food from inexperienced trainers or travelers."

It was there that the Pokedex's account of the Pokemon ended and it stopped talking. "Alright... they like to try and steal from inexperienced trainers... we could use that to our advantage." Gary stated grinning at Eevee.

As Gary pondered the idea of using food to lure out another Rattata and keep it busy long enough for Eevee to get a good shot at it he looked to the watch attached to his wrist by a leather strap. It was only a little past ten in the morning. In other words, no where near the time to be stopping for lunch yet.

"Eevee, when we stop for lunch I am going to spread a bit of food around the area to attract the Rattata out into the moderate open. We'll be able to get back at this one then, okay?" The brunette trainer asked his Pokemon softly, scratching behind it's ears as it focused on the patch of ground where the Rattata had darted off to. It was almost as if Eevee was annoyed that he had failed,."You know Eevee, you can't win at everything you do, sometimes you have to fail first to learn how to win."

Eevee seemed to take notice of Gary's words because he turned to look at his trainer. He offered a small simple nod in reply, as if he was trying to say he understood.

"Thank you." Gary grinned softly, once again hiking the backpack onto his shoulder. "I guess its time to press onwards if we want to make Viridian tonight that is. I don't know about you, but I really do not want to have to camp out on our first night."

Gary and Eevee turned down the path again, making steady progress towards Viridian City. The sun was still high in the sky but the clouds were starting to thicken and spread. Looking up to the heavens if you were any good at telling the weather, you could tell it was going to rain soon. Gary and Eevee had no other option but to press on towards Viridian City. Besides that Gary wasn't as good as other older people at reading the weather yet and really did not know that it was going to rain soon.

As they walked Eevee continued to try and find other little creatures to battle for Gary. It seemed that he wanted to prove himself to his trainer. The only way that it could see to do that at the moment was to be a good battler and help Gary catch a lot of Pokemon. That was what it was going to do.

It was half past twelve by the time the pair of travelers stopped again, this time it wasn't because of a Pokemon but instead because of the fact that both their stomachs were rumbling loudly. The first time ,that Gary's stomach rumbled a bright red blush worked it's way up his cheeks and he turned to Eevee, "I guess that means it is time for lunch."

It had taken them another fifteen minutes to find a suitable clearing for them to have lunch in. When they did reach the clearing Gary slipped his backpack off his shoulders and placed it at the base of the largest tree in the shade so that they could have some respite from the heat and the sunlight. A few seconds after the backpack was on the floor Gary joined it, sitting cross legged next to the black bag reaching over to unzip the top. He pulled his sandwiches out as well as the bowl he had packed for his starter Pokemon. It was something that his mother had bought at the market when she was down there. A set of six Pokemon dishes, and now each and every one of them was packed away in Gary's backpack because you could only carry six Pokemon at a time. Now he would be able to feed all of them if he had to.

Stretching his arm a little further down into the middle compartment of the bag Gary pulled out the tub of Pokemon food that he packed the previous night. "I don't know what this tastes like, but the Pokemon at my Grandpa's lab liked it, and well, if you don't like it I can get you something different in Viridian." Gary said softly as he passed the bowl that he had just filled with the Pokemon food to Eevee.

The brunette watched for a moment as the little brown furred Pokemon sniffed his food before taking a bite, chewing slowly and then purring happily before he started eating it faster. Gary smiled as he unwrapped the sandwiches from their covering of cling-film, watching as his Pokemon enjoyed his lunch. Gary opened up one of the sandwiches to see what filling his mother had used and smiled happily when he saw the fruity goodness that was strawberry jam. Gary's finger had started to squash the cling-film but stopped when he heard a crinkling noise coming from the packaging. After gently peeling the cling-film apart, the sandwiches balancing on his knee, he found that there was a note left inside.

"_Dear Gary,_

_Here you are Son, I thought you might like to have your favourite as a little surprise on your first day on the road. I've put a jar of strawberry jam in the bottom of your bag for you!_

_Love Mom."_

"Thanks Mom," The young boy whispered softly smiling as he slipped the short note inside the breast pocket in his shirt, "Alright Eevee, lets dig in."

Gary leaned back against the trunk of the old oak tree the pair were sat under happily munching away on his jam sandwiches as he watched Eevee attack the food that he had handed out ravenously, "Whoa! Slow down there boy, you would think that Grandpa hadn't been feeding you!" Gary joked scratching the little Pokemon behind the ears affectionately.

The sun moved slowly across the sky towards the western horizon, the shadows turning as the sun did and growing longer at the same time. The clouds were starting to collect in the sky but for the most part it was clear and quiet. That was until a large gust of wind from behind the pair caused one of Eevee's pellets of food to fly up into the air and hit something on the head. As Gary peered at it he noticed that it was a small bird like Pokemon with light brown coloured wings and a sandy coloured underside and pink feet.

"A Pokemon!" Gary exclaimed loudly, jumping to his feet while Eevee just stared forlornly at the food he just lost. "I wonder what the Pokedex has to say about this one."

For a second time Gary reached down into his pocket and pulled out the red device, pointed it towards the bird Pokemon and waited a fraction of a second for it to start speaking, "Pidgey, a flying type. Amongst all of the flying Pokemon this one is the gentlest and the easiest to capture. A perfect target for a beginner to test out his Pokemon's skills. Pidgey has the power to create tornadoes with it's gust attack, and can also use sand to attack when flapping it's wings quickly."

The brunette turned to the fox Pokemon beside him to speak, "You think that sounds good enough to capture Eevee? Cause I do." The boy grinned excitedly, looking from his Eevee to the Pidgey waiting and eating in the long grass nearby.

"Eevvee." Eevee replied succinctly moving forward into the grass and staring down at the bird Pokemon.

"Remember now Eevee, watch out for the sand attacks they'll make it hard to see!" Gary called out to Eevee, reaching back into his pocket so that he could be prepared to capture the Pidgey when the battle was over. "Now Eevee lets start this off with a double team." Gary ordered the small Pokemon, which obeyed quickly running around the Pidgey in a circle creating mirage images of itself designed to confuse the opponent. The bird Pokemon looked from side to side as if it were baffled by the images. Finally just closed it's eyes and flapped it's wings powerfully in an alarmed manner, kicking up sand and dirt and blowing it everywhere around itself.

"Eevee, watch out! Close your eyes until I tell you to open them!" Gary called hoping to avoid getting sand in Eevee's eyes.

The brown furred Pokemon obeyed hesitantly, not wanting to take it's eyes off the enemy but also wanting to trust Gary's instincts and ability to do the right thing. A few seconds after Eevee had squeezed his eyes tightly closed the sand engulfed him, but thankfully didn't make it into his eyes. When the sand finally settled Gary called out to Eevee again, this time to tell him that he could open his eyes.

"Eevee, tackle now quickly." Gary called, the Pokeball in his hand and enlarged ready to be thrown.

Eevee sped toward the Pidgey at full speed, his head down and concentrating on the bird, which was looking decidedly confused because it's sand attack hadn't worked. "Now Eevee, tackle it!" Gary called as soon as Eevee was in range of the Pidgey. The bird Pokemon started to flap it's wings and lift off trying to get away from Eevee, but it was too late. The little fox jumped into the air and took Pidgey out of the sky with one powerful tackle attack. As soon as the bird was on the ground Gary threw the Pokeball at it, hoping that it was weakened enough that he would be able to catch it.

Crimson red light absorbed the little bird into the Pokeball, it wobbled twice before it settled and the clicking sound of the lock sounded throughout the clearing. "Gotcha!" The brunette laughed delightedly almost slipping over to the Pokeball in his excitement. "Well done Eevee." He grinned scratching the little guy behind the ears lovingly.

Eevee purred softly and rubbed himself along Gary's calf, wagging his tail from side to side. He felt proud of himself for making his trainer happy.

The brunette leaned down and grabbed the Pokeball off the floor and attached it to his belt like Eevee's Pokeball was attached there. "Well..." He sighed, "I guess that means lunch time is over doesn't it little guy?" Gary asked gently patting the small fox on his back and standing up again. "Come on, lets go back to the backpack and put everything away. I want to test out that Pokemon luring idea."

It took Gary about fifteen minutes to pack up all of the bowls and dishes, along with the packet of Pokemon food for Eevee back into his bag. For the cling-film he took a small black bag from one of the side pockets that his mom had told him to use for rubbish and slipped it inside before closing the bag with a neat bow the same as he did for his shoelaces and stuffing it back in his bag. In his right hand he held a few of the pellets of Pokemon food while he swung his backpack up onto his back. When the backpack was firmly on his back he threw the pellets around the clearing scattering them in hopes of attracting a Rattata or two so that he could capture one of them.

"Come on Eevee, lets go behind this tree here and wait." Gary whispered to the fox before retreating behind the large oak tree to peer around it waiting for the Pokemon to appear.

Eevee watched his trainer for a couple of seconds before shaking it's head and sighing but in the end he followed Gary's example and hid behind the oak tree.

It was only ten minutes later when the pair heard the sound of crunching coming from where the pellets were scattered, it was a sound similar to the one that Eevee had made when he was chomping away on the pellets. Gary stuck his head around the tree, his dark brown eyes scanned the area trying to find the Pokemon that was eating the pellets. The young trainer's eyes finally stopped when he spotted the small purple fur of a Rattata. It was sitting on it's hind legs with a pellet in it's front two feet holding it up to it's mouth, it's long fangs biting down on the pellet and eating it.

"A Rattata!" Gary whispered ecstatically, "Now is our chance. Lets go."

The brunette walked slowly around the tree towards where the Rattata was standing with Eevee right behind it. When they were in position Gary slipped his hand into the ball pouch he had attached to his belt and brought a new Pokeball out, ready to capture the Rattata. "Alright Eevee," The brunette uttered softly, keeping his eyes on the purple rat. "Its distracted by the food, lets get it quick with a Quick Attack."

Eevee's explosive speed propelled it straight towards the Rattata. Moving at a blistering pace the small Pokemon lowered it's head and barreled into the Rattata hard. He knocked it back into the tree line and into a set of bushes leaving only it's tail visible. The purple tail twitched for a couple of seconds before it stopped and then stumbled out of the bush. The Rattata's eyes were rolling from side to side as it stumbled around confused. Gary smirked at the state of the Pokemon before calling out his next commands, "Eevee kick up the dirt with sand attack! Get it in his eyes!"

Eevee raced around so that he was in front of the Rattata and turned, thrusting his back legs out quickly kicking up dirt into Rattata's eyes causing the small Pokemon to shake it's head roughly and stumble about worse than before. "Now Eevee, tackle it once more."

Eevee's strong tackle connected with the Rattata's body flinging it to the side and into the oak tree. It slid down the trunk to lay at the bottom a couple of seconds after. The fox walked up to Rattata slowly, watching to see if it started to move again, but it didn't. When Eevee turned around to look at Gary the brunette grinned and threw the Pokeball to capture the little rat. "See Eevee, patience paid off."

The little Pokemon nodded waiting for the Pokeball to stop wobbling from side to side. When it finally did and the click was heard Eevee approached the Pokeball and nudged it towards Gary so that he could pick it up. "Thanks." The brunette said softly, patting Eevee on the head.

"Let's move on Eevee, we've got a long way to go."


	3. An Electric Rescue

The sun beat down on the back of the brunette's neck as he walked along the path, Eevee happily trotting beside him and checking in the bushes at the side of the road for anything interesting as they went. The ground underneath the pair's feet was sun baked, in the way that soil that had not seen rain for a great many days was, with large cracks running across its length and the crumbly texture. Every now and then Pokemon would poke their noses out from behind the bushes and Eevee would chase after them, battling with them until the other had fainted or run away.

At the start of the pair's journey the clouds in the sky had been fluffy white and few and far between, but as the day went on and it approached mid afternoon the clouds seemed to gather in the sky until they were clumped together and the white turned to grey. Neither Gary nor Eevee noticed as the clouds gathered above their heads far more entertained by the Pokemon that they saw as they walked, or the sights that they witnessed now that they were on their own in the wilderness.

In his childhood Gary had been to different cities around the Kanto region, but he had never walked to them on this own. Normally his grandfather would fly him, his mother and his sister to the various places so even while he had visited other cities and towns he had never actually done it on his own by travelling the land as he was doing now. It was as exciting to him to be out in the wilderness with only his Pokemon by his side as it was to be in the planes flying above everything and watching as the ground changed underneath his gaze when he was five years old. As for Eevee the only outside places he had seen where those of Professor Oak's laboratory, and then he had been with his parents and friends and not with a trainer.

As they travelled together each enjoyed the sounds that were coming from all around them; the Pidgeys calling to their mates in the trees or whistling to each other about something that had happened, the way that the Rattata could be heard scratching with their claws and their teeth at the ground looking for food. The sounds of the countryside were a lot different than those of Pallet Town, and Gary found himself fully enjoying being immersed in it.

That was until a fat drop of water landed on the bridge of his nose and then ran its course down over his cheek until it dripped off his chin. Tilting his head up the young boy looked up into the sky and for the first time noticed the gathering clouds. Cursing under his breath Gary hitched his jacket tighter around his and then looked down at the little brown fox by his side, "Everything was going well, why couldn't the weather stay fine?" He asked a little peeved even though he knew that he should have been happy that everything was going so well.

"Eve." The little Pokemon replied as if to pacify his trainer before looking up at the clouds as well and almost glaring at them. The fox shook his head from side to side for a moment as if he was trying to stay dry before he hung his head in defeat and walked on.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's keep moving Eevee." The brunette said in reply as he followed his Pokemon and continued walking along the path that was quickly turning from sun baked earth until either a flood or mud.

The pair trudged their down the pathway, Gary's boots making squelching sounds on the ground as he placed his foot down. Gary smiled a little as Eevee bounded ahead of him rushing in the direction of a large puddle at the edge of the path. The brunette laughed heartily as Eevee appeared out of the puddle covered in water and mud, though his laugh changed to an annoyed grunt when the small Pokemon turned and shook himself right in front of him, covering his clothes in mud spray.

"You didn't have to do that Eevee." The boy whined as he whipped the mud off his forehead. The boy's brown eyes looked down as Eevee turned to stare up at him almost apologetically. "Hm, you expect me to forgive you just like that?"

"Eevvvv..." The Pokemon replied with a whine in its voice as he approached Gary and place his forepaws on Gary's knees.

"Alright fine, silly little boy." Gary said, leaning down slightly to scratch the little fox behind the ears.

Eevee jumped down from his position standing on his hind legs and indicted for the two of them to continue walking, which Gary did, while wiping down his face with his hands.

As the pair continued to walk the rain got heavier and heavier until it was beating down on the cracked earth running off the hard soil and then finding its way down into the river below. Gary watched the rain drops as they hit the ground and formed the puddles, little Pokemon from the bushes and grassland just off the side of the path strayed onto it to get a drink of the water. Occasionally Eevee would approach the Pokemon and scare them off then he would trot back to Gary's side with a playful little smile on his face.

"Eve?" The little brown fox called in a confused manner, tilting his head to the side and sniffing the air.

Suddenly the little Pokemon took off running off the pathway; Gary looked after him for a moment before realising that the little fox was running away from him. The brunette followed Eevee with his eyes as he ran away following him quickly, brushing the tree branches aside with his arms as he battled his way through the bushes following his partner.

"Eevee!" Gary called loudly, hearing a whining from near the river's edge in reply he changed direction and headed off towards it.

The branches slowly gave way to mud covered grassland, the tall grass bending where Eevee moved through it, Gary followed the bending of the grass until the tall grass ended and the cliff started to slope down. The brunette scanned the edge with his eyes until he spotted the tell tale shape of Eevee crouching beside a bush.

"Eevee, what are you doing boy?" Gary asked concerned as he approached his Pokemon.

The trainer's sharp eyes spotted a patch of dark ground next to the bush, that didn't look as if it were mud but something a lot redder in colour, blood. Quickly the young boy rushed towards the bush, his little Eevee was not the only Pokemon there, as well as Eevee there was another little mouse like Pokemon curled up underneath the bush.

The mouse had yellow fur, and a long lightning bolt shaped tail with a brown tip and brown strips across its back. There were cuts running across the entire length of the mouse's body, it looked as if he had been attacked by more than just one opponent. Instead the wounds on the Pokemon's body looked similar to ones that Gary had seen on Pokemon that had been attacked by a gang of other Pokemon.

Bending down beside the bush Gary reached in beside Eevee and petted the Pokemon's side softly and gently. "Hello there, I'm going to help you." He said softly, reaching in with both his arms this time and taking the Pokemon into his embrace and holding it tightly on his chest. "I'll get you to Viridian Pokemon Centre, just hold on."

"Pika..." the yellow furred mouse whimpered softly in Gary's arms as it cuddled closer to the boy's chest.

"Come on Eevee," Gary said softly as he cradled the little Pikachu in his arms. "Let's get a move on."

The brown furred fox seemed to nod its head before trotting up the cliff's slope back to the pathway. Gary followed Eevee back to the path, his feet slipping in the mud as he climbed. It was when he reached the path that he first heard a sharp cry from above that caused his head to snap back and look up into the sky.

"Spearow!" The cry came from a flock of brown bellied birds with red wings circling the sky overhead.

"Crap, Spearow..." Gary mumbled under his breath as he looked up at the birds above him. "Are those the ones that attacked you?"

"Pika..." The little mouse replied in a weak voice.

Suddenly the birds in the flock seemed to change direction and started heading down as if to dive bomb the group of three on the ground. Gary looked up at the flock for a moment before he realised what was happening and took off running down the path, "Don't worry Pikachu, I'll protect you." He whispered to the little Pokemon softly, "Come on Eevee, run!"

Eevee hadn't waited for Gary's order and was already running by his side, dodging attacks from the Spearow in the air; Gary bent his head down and grunted as he lost his footing because of a hit to the back of his head. Dazed the brunette dropped to his knees, shaking his head from side to side as if hoping that it would clear it. Gary heard Eevee calling him from up the path but he couldn't put on a finger on exactly where it was coming from, and neither could he think through the assault of beaks at his head and back.

Gary struggled to his knees and stumbled up the path, batting away Spearow attacks with his hands as he did so. As the birds dropped down on him Gary came to the realisation that he was not going to be able to out run them, but he might be able to out swim them.

"Eevee, follow him." The brunette shouted as he made his way down to the cliff again, slipping down the embankment as he went because of the rain and the mud.

When he got to the edge the boy looked down and gasped at the torrent of the water, but he knew it was his only escape without getting pecked to death. From the cliff into the water it was only a ten foot drop, there was a waterfall, but the boy knew that was not going to be the hard part. That was going to be the water's current pounding on him as soon as he met the water. "It's the only way to get away from them Eevee," Gary said comfortingly to the Pokemon by his side as they both looked down into the water.

"Okay, let's jump on three." Gary said softly, "One... two... three."

The water rushed up at Gary as he jumped, clutching the little mouse to his chest to keep him from being torn away from his body. The water pounded down on top of Gary's head forcing him under and downstream as he tried to get to the surface.

The boy didn't know how long he was under the water but as soon as he surfaced he was gasping for breath, and his lungs ached. Shaking the locks of brown hair from his eyes the boy scanned the area and saw Eevee already making his way to the bank, and in the distance there was the tell tale shape of the Spearow flock following the river. Taking a deep breath Gary turned over onto his back and started to swim towards the shore.

"Hey!" A feminine voice shouted from the shore trying to get Gary's attention.

The brunette's eyes swivelled towards where the voice was coming from. On the shore he saw a redhead girl in a red tank top and denim jean shorts, the girl held a fishing pole in her hands, but she was standing staring out at the water. Gary turned so he was swimming towards the redhead, holding the Pikachu to his chest.

"Are you alright?" The girl asked as she helped haul Gary out of the water.

For a moment he was unable to reply but after coughing hard and getting the water out of his lungs he managed a grim smile and a nod, "Which way... to the Pokemon Centre?"

The girl took in the small yellow mouse in his arms and then nodded towards the path, "Follow that road, it'll take you all the way to Viridian City, when you reach the city ask Officer Jenny for directions."

"Thank you." Gary replied as he climbed to his feet and took off running towards the city, and hopefully the way to save the little mouse.

"You're welcome!" The girl shouted after him as he ran.

Screeching started over head as Gary ran down the path, Eevee ran along beside him looking back over his shoulder as he did so. "Crap, they've followed us!" The brunette shouted as he tried to run faster.

Wildly Gary grabbed a Pokeball that was attached to his belt and threw it towards the flock. He heard the tell tale click as it opened and then he saw Eevee doubling back towards the flock. The fox returned a moment later with a Pokeball in his mouth.

Pikachu looked up from Gary's arms and back at the flock that was following them, then he looked towards the brunette's face trying to see why the boy was trying so hard to save him. "Pika..."

The Pokemon wiggled its way out of Gary's embrace and hopped up onto his shoulder, looking back at the now confused boy, "Pikachu." It said softly before jumping up between Gary and the flock of Spearow.

"Pikachu!" The little Pokemon yelled as it released a thunderbolt at the flock, the bolt jumped from Spearow to Spearow moving through the flock until each of them had been shocked and was moving away in the opposite direction. Gary rushed forward and grabbed the little Pokemon, falling on his backside as he caught it.

Eevee approached the pair on the floor and moved to nuzzle the Pikachu's side softly. "Eve?" He asked softly.

"Pika..." the mouse replied weakly as it gazed up into the sky.

From the horizon there was a bird, a giant golden bird, crossing the sky. "What is that?" Gary asked in wonder.


	4. Arrival In Viridian

Chapter Four: Viridian City.

The sun shone down hard on the back of the young brunette's back as he wearily passed one foot in front of the other and continued to walk down the well trodden path towards the next city. The brunette idly stroked the yellow fur of the mouse's back as he cradled it in his arms, trying to keep the Pokemon as calm as he could so that he wouldn't harm himself further than he already was.

The ground underneath Gary's feet was rapidly drying out from the storm that he had gone through the hour before. Now the mud was turning into dirty, cracked soil that spanned the path as far as Gary could see into the distance. The puddles which Eevee had enjoyed bounding in the hour before were gone, dried up from the heat after the flash flood. There was nothing that the brunette could see that indicated that there had even been a rain storm during the course of the day, but the brunette couldn't say that he really minded the good weather either because it gave him a chance to relax into the warmth of the sun - and for his clothes to dry a little.

The trees on the edge of the path bent in the sunlight as if they were slumbering in the warmth as well. The Pokemon that they held in their branches similarly relaxed, the Pidgey spreading their wings and flapping them idly to get the rain droplets out of their feathers as the Rattata at the base of the tree laid down on the roots for an afternoon nap. It was all very calm, and in the sky there was not a sign of the Spearow flock that had been attacking the Pokemon and Gary himself earlier in the day.

The brunette watched the small Pokemon lazing about on the side of the path even as he continued to walk quickly, his legs brushed against the side of grass and bush alike as he pressed toward, not slowly down even when his breath came as pants and his chest felt tight. Whenever Gary looked down he saw the reassuring sight of his little Pokemon's chest rising up and down, though he knew the motion was weak it was still something when he could see it going and he knew that the little mouse was fighting for his life, such were his injuries.

"I don't know what you did to piss off those Spearow little guy, but I'm sure that you won't be doing it again on matter what happens, otherwise you'll end up like this again and who knows I might not be there to save you next time." Gary told the mouse as he walked, stroking the yellow fur with the pad of his thumb as comfortingly as he could manage.

The boy walked steadily, sometimes whenever he thought he saw the city breaking into a run before he realised just how far away he actually was from it. The boy wandered the pathway, making sure that he was still heading in the right direction by following Eevee and his strong nose. The paths and the forest made the trip harder and a little more confusing, as well as the fact that he had taken a trip down the river not that much earlier in the day and so he'd come off the beaten track for quite a while.

There was one good thing about the sun beating down on the hot boy's back, and that was the fact that his clothes were starting to dry. Now when he placed a foot down to take the next step there wasn't a squelching noise as the water in his boot was squeezed to be in another part of the boot, now there was the same silence as there had been before they got soaked through. The mud though had dried to the edge of the boy's jeans, and the water was still clinging to the brunette's shirt and plastering it against his side.

"It can't be that much farther," Gary whispered encouragingly to himself as he walked forward.

As the brunette crested the next hill his face broke out into a beamingly smile and his laughed happily, the sound alerted Eevee, who was trailing behind his trainer that something was going on and so the little Pokemon raced up to be beside Gary on top of the crest.

"Just look at it Eevee," Gary said softly to the little Pokemon, "That is Viridian City, and now we just have to the find the Pokemon Centre!"

"Eve!" The fox replied as it proceeded to bound down the side of the hill, not waiting for the brunette to catch up to him as he ran. Gary smiled as his little friends raced over the cracked earth, laughing softly as he started to run down the side of the slope.

"Don't you worry Pikachu, we're almost there." The brunette whispered encouragingly to the mouse as his feet beat down on the earth, causing it to crumble more than it had been previously.

"Pika," The mouse answered Gary's words with an affection lick at the boy's cheek before laying its head back down on Gary's chest, over the boy's heart.

Gary's feet pounded the earth into it was more compacted that before, the cracking following the line of his footsteps back up the hill as he raced towards the City which he had seen below.

"Just you wait a moment!" A feminine voice cried out a moment before Gary found himself sitting on his ass in the middle of the path looking about him in a confused manner.

"What just happened?" He wondered aloud as he looked up at the blue haired woman in Police uniform standing before him.

"I'm Officer Jenny of Viridian City." The blue haired woman replied almost angrily, "Just what are you doing with that Pokemon?"

"Oh, this Pikachu, my Eevee found him after he had been attacked by a flock of Spearow, I'm taking him to see Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Centre." Gary replied easily as he moved to pick himself off the ground, smiling up at Officer Jenny as he did so.

"How do I know that you are not stealing that Pokemon?" The woman asked as she took a step towards Gary, "Show me your identification."

"You want my identification?" Gary asked bewildered as he fished about in his pocket for something that could be called an ID.

"Don't play dumb with me Boy, your Pokemon Trainer's ID, all new trainers get one when they get their first Pokemon." Jenny replied holding her hand out prepared to take the ID from Gary.

"I'm sorry, but the only thing I got given by my Grandfather is this Pokedex." Gary replied as he handed the woman the Pokedex. "Is this the ID you were meaning?"

"This will do nicely." Jenny offered as a reply, flicking open the small device and punching in a series of codes into it.

Gary looked shocked when he heard the little device giving off a series of beeps and then the little device started to speak in the same voice that he had heard earlier that morning when it had told him about the Pokemon in the forest. "I am Dexter," The voice said in a perfect monotone, "I am a Pokedex programmed by Professor Oak for the trainer Gary Oak of Pallet town. My function is to act as his ID, and to ensure that he has the most up to date information on the Pokemon that he might encounter during his travels. If lost I cannot be replaced."

Officer Jenny stood back from the boy and handed him back the small red device, "There you are Gary, and this is your ID, just so that you know for the future. Do not lose it or else you will not be able to enter the Pokemon league, if that is what you want to do in the future."

The officer smiled down at the young boy and then placed her hand on his shoulder, "And just a word of warning, there are Pokemon thieves around that might be interested in your Pokemon, be on the lookout."

The blue haired woman was just about to return to her Police Office, but Gary called out to her just as the door was about to close. "Wait!"

"Yes?" The woman asked softly, holding the door open with her hand. "What is it?"

"Can you direct me to the Pokemon Centre, this little Pokemon needs help." Gary asked softly as he looked down at the Pokemon lying in his arms.

"Oh, I can take you there if you need me to." The Officer replied as she looked down at the Pikachu in Gary's arms.

"No, I couldn't take you away from your duties," The boy said quickly holding his hand up to stop the woman, "I just need directions to it."

"Oh." Officer Jenny replied, looking down the road in a fashion that Gary took to mean she was thinking about the most direct path. "Just follow this road and you should get there, if you feel that you are lost, look for a big red P on the side or front of a building and that will be the Pokemon Centre."

"Thank you." Gary replied happily, turning down the road and making his way further into the city.

Soon his footsteps stopped being the soft padding footsteps that happened as he placed his boot down on soft crumbling earth but instead the silent footsteps that happened when a boot was placed down on tarmac. Every now and then Gary looked down at the Pikachu in his arms and smiled as he saw it cuddling into his chest, Eevee walked at his side happily sniffing at the bushes at the side of the road.

About fifteen minutes after he had left the Police Station Gary saw the P sign glowing on the front of a building and smiled happily. "There it is Eevee!" He exclaimed happily, "That's the Pokemon Centre."

Eevee turned his head from the bush that he was investigating and looked in the direction that Gary was pointing to where he could see a large red glowing object of the side of the building. "Eevee," The little Pokemon purred softly for a moment before it looked back at Gary and then raced off towards the Pokemon Centre.

The brunette watched as his Pokemon made the journey, following behind him more slowly, careful of the weak Pokemon that he was cradling within his arms.

The brunette climbed the steps to the Pokemon Centre and entered the sliding doors just after Eevee had raced through them and over to the counter, putting his small paws on the side of the counter and whining. The pink haired woman at the desk looked down as she leaned over it peering at the small Pokemon. She was just about to speak when Gary called out to her instead.

"Can you help me?" He asked softly, approaching the desk.

"What do you need help with?" The nurse asked after a moment sitting back down in her chair.

Gary placed the yellow mouse on the woman's desk, stroking its cheek softly as it licked his palm, "I found this Pokemon he had been attacked by Spearow on the side of the road, I... I can't help him anymore."

"Oh," The nurse said looking over the yellow mouse slowly, taking in all of its injuries, "Do you know if the Pokemon has a trainer?"

"I don't think so; he had no problem with me taking him." Gary replied looking down into the mouse's eyes, "Please, just help him."

The nurse was already pressing a button on the side of her desk, "I need a gurney in reception, right away."

A pair of sliding doors slid open to reveal a large round pink Pokemon who carried an egg in a pouch on its front and also wore a nurse's cap on its head. The Pokemon sang its name by way of communication as it pushed the trolley forward until it was in front of Nurse Joy and Gary.

"Is he going to be okay?" The boy asked softly, his tone almost fearful as he placed the mouse down gently on the trolley.

"We'll do everything that we can for it," The Nurse said softly, before pointing the boy over to another doorway, "Through there are rooms which you can wait in until your Pokemon is recovered, don't worry, we'll come and get you when he is."

"Thank you." The brunette mumbled as he made his way over to the door on unsteady legs.

The boy's last glimpse of his new friend was as it disappeared through the glass doors into the back where the brunette supposed the medical bays were. Shaking his head forlornly the boy padded over to the door that Nurse Joy had pointed out and pressed down on the handle causing the wooden door to swing open and reveal a bright lit corridor with doors leading off the sides into which Gary supposed were bedrooms. Coming to the first door the boy quickly opened it and trailed through into the room, waiting for Eevee to come in behind him before he closed it and threw his bag down onto the bed.

"Eve," The little brown fox purred softly at the brunette leaping up onto the bed and resting his head on the pillow happily.

"Good little boy," Gary smiled softly at the fox before sitting down in the chair that was passed in the corner of the small room and taking in his surroundings.

The room was small, but it didn't feel as if he was closed in as he sat there, instead it was a very open feeling with light coloured walls and bunk beds surrounding him. On the back wall there was a desk with a video phone placed upon it and the chair that Gary found himself sitting in, then along the walls there were various pictures of Pokemon ranging from ones that Gary recognised as Pidgey and Rattata to paintings of giant golden rainbow coloured birds flying away through the sky above a rainbow.

Something inside Gary's mind flashed back to the Pokemon that he had seen earlier that day, but he put it out of his mind and instead decided that he was going to call his mother and tell her where he was. She was probably worried sick about him already the boy supposed as he typed his home phone number into the phone's keypad and waited for his mother to pick up.

"Hello, this is the Oak residence, what can I do for you?"

The boy smiled brightly as he heard his mother's voice for the first time that day, "Hey Mum."

That was all that he managed to get out before he heard a soft feminine scream on the other side and the video aspect of the phone came online to show him his mother's beaming face, "Gary! You made it to Viridian!"

"Yeah, I'm at the Pokemon Centre now with Eevee." The brunette replied with a grin as he took in his mother's slightly dishevelled appearance, normally she only let herself get like that when she was worrying about something.

"Wow, that's amazing! Your grandfather took about a week to make it there – though apparently his mother was sure that was because he'd stopped to look at everything along the way."

"Sounds like Grandpa." Gary muttered with a grin, laughing when Eevee bounded up and slammed itself down on his stomach so that he could join in the conversation.

"Oh, so that's your starter Pokemon then." He boy's mother asked softly.

"Yeah, this is Eevee." Gary said as he scratched the small Pokemon's ears causing it to purr. "He's a hard worker; already found me three new friends."

"Really," May exclaimed happily, "Your grandfather and your sister will be glad to know that, they've had a running bet going about whether or not you'd have any new partners."

"Who bet what?" Gary asked curiously.

"Well your sister said that you'd have more than two more and your Grandpa said less than two. Not that he was trying to discourage you but he was being reasonable, two is pretty high for your first day, and you say you got three?"

"Possibly a fourth as well, if he makes it through...." Gary mumbled, "I've caught a Pidgey, a Rattata and a Spearow so far, and there is a Pikachu being treated at the moment by Nurse Joy that I think wants to join me."

"That's great son," May beamed with pride over her son's achievements. "I've got to go now Honey, but it probably won't be long before your Grandfather calls. I love you."

"I love you too Mum," The boy replied placing the handset down when the screen went blank. "And now I have nothing left to do."

Eevee nuzzled against the boy's chest for a moment before leaping down and padding over towards the door where he nudged it and enquired at Gary. "I can't boy, my Grandpa's going to be calling soon, I just don't know when, we've got to wait for him."

"Eve." The little Pokemon whined but returned to the bed and settled down into it laying his head on the pillow almost grumpily.

"I'm sorry, we'll explore as soon as we've finished talking to Grandpa I promise." The boy said as he sat down on the bed next to his little Pokemon and scratched it behind the ears, "I know you want to go out and do stuff, but right now we've got to stay here. It won't be long."

It was at the exact moment that Gary stopped speaking that the he heard the phone beginning to ring, "See I told you."

The brunette jumped off the bed and quickly made the way to the phone picking it up, "Hello," He said watching in an amused fashion when the video came on, but the feed was wrong and it showed the back of his grandfather's head.

"Well hello there Gary!" The man exclaimed, "I've heard you've made it to Viridian City already?"

"Grandpa, the camera, it's fixed on the back of your head." The Gary smirked as he saw the flustered movements coming from the old man as he switched it over to show the front of his face.

"Anyway, you haven't answered my question." The Professor asked as he waited for the blush that covered his cheeks to lighten.

"If I wasn't in Viridian right now I wouldn't have been able to answer the phone Grandpa," The boy laughed softly as his grandfather nodded and laughed.

"You're right you know." The man grinned, "I also heard that you've picked up some new Pokemon on your travels already... and that I lost a certain bet but that doesn't matter. Do you want to show me those now?"

"Show you?" The boy asked in a confused manner.

"Just get them out of their Pokeballs, I know that you can't transfer them at the moment but that doesn't really matter."

"Alright," The boy replied slightly confused. He hand went down to his waist where the Pokeballs laid attached to his belt, gently one by one his popped them off and set them on the side of the desk. "First we have my Spearow."

The boy pressed the button in the middle of the ball twice, first making it big and then opening it. The ball released a bright red light before the light took a form and revealed a sleek looking brown bird, its talons were sharp and pure white and its breast was a bright red.

"That looks to be a pretty impressive Spearow," The Professor said as he took in the bird, "I would say that it is a young one though, but it should be good once it gets in a little training and what not."

"Return Spearow," The boy said after softly scratching the bird's head with a smile. "Next there is my Pidgey."

"A Spearow and a Pidgey, that's pretty good for having the flying types covered already." The boy's grandfather commented after a moment waiting for the Pokemon to take shape from the red light. The Pidgey was a lot smaller than the Spearow, and its feathers looked to be more beaten up and scruffy than the Spearow's but once again Professor Oak nodded his head and smiled. "Another fighter I see, you'll do fine with more training too."

"You're a tough little cookie," The boy commented as he pulled the Pokemon back into the Pokeball.

Professor Oak saw each of Gary's three newly caught Pokemon before he saw Eevee again, "Wow, you've grown alright little one!" The Professor commented loudly with a grin, "He looks as if he's bonded with you well."

"He's a great little Pokemon Gramps." The boy grinned widely at the Professor. The boy leaned his head back and looked at the picture on the wall again, "Gramps, is that a real Pokemon?"

"The Golden bird, well, no we've never had a sighting of it. It's just a myth, beautiful, but a myth. Why do you ask?"

"Because I thought that I saw it today, flying away over the rainbow..." The boy trailed off turning back to the computer. It doesn't matter it was probably my imagination anyway."

There was the distinct sound of a doorbell before the Professor's head snapped over towards the door and he grinned, "Pizza's here." Jumping up and away from the computer screen before popping back for a moment and saying a quick goodbye not allowing the brunette to respond before the line went dead.

"I guess that was goodbye then Eevee." The boy said as he sat back in the chair and smiled. The little Pokemon began to paw at his leg, begging to go and do something other than sit in the room staring blankly at the walls, "You want to explore don't you?"

"Eve," The Pokemon replied racing over to the door and nudging it with his head slightly looking back at Gary imploringly.

"Alright, I'm coming I'm coming." The boy replied as he laughed at the little brown fox before standing up and moving back to the bed, picking up his backpack and hoisting it over his shoulders, "Come on then, we better get a move on if you want to explore. Not that I think there will be much too actually explore in this place."

"Eve," The Pokemon whined waiting for Gary to open the door before he bounded out of it and down the corridor in the opposite direction to the one that they had come in on.

"Don't go too far!" Gary called loudly as he watched the Pokemon disappear around the corner and off into the distance. The brunette stood and shook his head as the Pokemon disappeared muttering to himself a moment later, "I just shouldn't bother should I?"


	5. Viridian Pokemon Centre

**Author's Note: This is my first time writing after a long hiatus, so if it looks a little out of practice it is because I am. But no worries, I'll be writing more from now on. (I hope).**

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Chapter Five: A New Friend, and Old Enemies.

Gary followed the young Pokemon around the centre making sure to keep it within his sight at all times because he knew how likely the little Pokemon was to get himself into some kind of trouble and need help getting out of it again. The pair's wanderings took them out of the residential area of the centre and towards the Pokemon wards. Out of the corner of his eye the brown haired trainer spotted what looked to be a Pikachu laying on a bed, its head was bandaged a blanket had been pulled up to it's chin to make sure it was covered.

"Hello Gary."

The boy almost jumped out of his skin as the person's words sounded in his ear he was so surprised, his head snapped around and looked in the direction that the voice had come from. There in the doorway of the ward was Nurse Joy, a clipboard settled on her hip and a pen in her hand as she looked towards him smiling.

"Hello Nurse," Gary replied with a slight smile as he turned and looked towards her, "Is he alright?"

"It looks like he is going to be. A good nights rest and we'll see," Nurse Joy replied with a smile at the boy, "You want to visit him?"

"Yes please!" Gary exclaimed happily, Eevee already rushing between Nurse Joy's legs and across the floor of the ward to jump up onto Pikachu's bed.

"Please do, I think he has something he wants to ask you anyway." The Nurse spoke softly before walking through the door to the ward and making her checks on the other Pokemon. "You're welcome to stay with him as long as you want, though I'm going to have to go man the front desk after my rounds."

"Thank you."

The brunette's feet padded over towards the bed where Pikachu lay, previously resting peacefully but now awake and nuzzling it's muzzle into the soft and warm fur that covered Eevee's neck. "Hey Pikachu," Gary murmured softly as he sat down on the edge of the bed, "How you doing little buddy?"

"Pika..." The yellow mouse replied softly, angling it's head up to look at Gary, a semblance of a smile covering its little mouth. "Pi, Pika."

"Glad to hear it little guy," Gary grinned happily understanding that the little Pokemon was trying to tell him that he was going to be alright. "Just you rest now, alright?"

"Pika." The mouse's eyes tightened up slightly and his nose twitched as he brought his little hand up and pointed towards the brunette's belt, "Pi, Pika, Pikachu."

"I don't understand..." Gary answered softly, a confused look shining in his deep brown eyes as he tried to understand what it was that the little Pokemon was trying to tell him.

"Pikachu, Pi." It said again strongly as it jabbed its finger towards Gary's belt and the Pokeballs attached to it.

"You want a Pokeball?" Gary asked softly, his eyebrow raising as he looked between Eevee and Pikachu.

"Pika." The mouse nodded and jabbed towards one of the free balls again as another one of its little smiles spread across its mouth.

"You want to be my Pokemon, is that what you are trying to say?" The brunette asked, a smile slowly spreading over his lips as he watched the Pokemon bob its head up and down repetitively.

The brunette unhooked one of the Pokeballs that was still empty and pressed the button in the middle, causing an explosion of red light to come forth and encase the little yellow mouse, pulling it back into the Pokeball a few moments later. The ball wobbled a couple of times before it closed, still and locked. The brunette smiled widely and released the Pokemon from the ball a few moments later, returning it to where it had laid on the bed. "Glad to have you with me." The boy whispered softly as he watched the Pokemon's eyes flutter closed.

Eevee curled up on the bed next to Pikachu, sharing the mouse's pillow and stealing a corner of it's blanket to cover itself with as Gary settled down into the chair beside the bed to wait for the time when Pikachu would be ready to continue their journey again.

"Emergency at the front desk, I need a gurney for a small electric Pokemon stat." Nurse Joy's voice sounded over the intercom, startling Gary out of his half awake state and leaving him sprawled on the floor staring up at the ceiling wondering what the hell was going on.

"Eevee?" He called out softly a couple of moments later, blinking to rid himself of the sleep residue that had collected in his eyes as he had slept. Rolling his neck from side to side the boy tried to rid himself of the kinks that had worked their way into his muscles from the position that he had slumped into during the course of the night.

"Eve," The brown fox replied, jumping down off the bed and standing beside the boy's feet.

"Pikachu, you coming with us?" Gary asked softly, waiting for the Pokemon to leap up onto his shoulder before turning and making his way back towards the front desk of the centre. As he pushed down on the handle to let himself into the lobby the boy caught a glimpse of the trainer that had just appeared and laughed under his breath.

Ash Ketchum stood with his hands on the front desk, staring at the mural on the wall of the golden Pokemon that Gary had seen before, while talking to the Professor Oak at the same time. The other boy looked dirty, and almost beat up – his clothes were wet and had mud sticking to them, as well as a lot of grass and leaves from what Gary supposed was a fall. His cap was turned around so the bridge was at the back and he was pacing in front of the video camera.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Gary spoke loudly to catch the other boy's attention as he walked through the doorway, his eyes scanning along his rival's frame taking in every little patch of dirt.

"Gary..." Ash muttered softly, glaring in the other boy's direction, "What are you doing here?"

"Well obviously the same thing you are Ashy-boy." The brunette replied, smirking at his old friend, "Resting my Pokemon for the night."

"Oh... Professor Oak told me that you've been here for a few hours." The red cheeked boy replied after a couple of moments, nodding his head in the direction of the screen in front of him where Professor Oak had been a couple of minutes before but was now blank.

"Where are your Pokemon then?" Gary asked after a couple of moments, wondering if the boy had managed to pick any new ones up on the way, or if he only had his starter Pokemon.

"He's through there," The raven haired boy replied, raising his hand and pointing towards the closed doors of the emergency rooms – the same room that the mouse sitting on Gary's shoulder had been through a couple of hours previously. "We got attacked by a flock of Spearow after I pissed one off."

Ash shrugged his shoulders and grinned shyly, the blush spreading across his cheeks informing Gary that he was embarrassed about the situation. The brunette shook his head and sighed, approaching the front desk and leaning against it beside where Ash was stood, "Same here, although I caught one of the Spearow while I was doing it."

"Really?" The raven haired boy exclaimed in wonder before his face fell and he glared at the other boy, "Just how many Pokemon do you have now?"

"Well..." Gary pondered the question for a couple of moments before he actually began to answer, "There is Eevee, and Pikachu here..." He was cut off there when Ash exclaimed over the fact that his starter Pokemon had been a Pikachu, "Then there is Rattata, Pidgey and that Spearow as well."

The taller boy's inquisitive chocolate coloured eyes glanced down towards Ash's belt and noticed that it didn't look like he had caught any new Pokemon on the trip from Pallet to Viridian, though if he was honest with himself he wasn't that surprised considering that Ash had always been a late starter – something that just reminded him of the way that the boy had turned up at his grandfather's that morning. His pyjamas crumpled from sleep, and still on his body.

For a moment it looked like the Ketchum boy was going to start speaking again but he was interrupted by a loud bang that sounded as the front door to the Pokemon Centre was pushed open forcibly and an irate red haired girl walked through, with the charred remains of a bicycle over her shoulders. "You!" The girl screamed, taking one hand off the bike and pointing towards Ash, "Look what you did to my bike!"

The brunette watched in what he thought was slow motion as the girl lost her grip on the bike and was sent flying backwards, until both she and her bike were in a heap on the ground. Normally the arrogant boy would have laughed, but this time he rushed forward and pulled the remains of the bike off the girl and held out his hand for her to take, gently pulling her to her feet and whispering softly to her, "Are you alright?"

The redhead shook her head and blinked a couple of times before looking Gary in the eyes and smiling softly, "Err, yes thank you..."

"Gary," The boy supplied, correctly interpreting what the girl wanted to know, "Gary Oak, and this-" He offered pointing behind the pair towards where Ash stood still in shook, "Is Ash Ketchum, we're from Pallet Town."

"You're the boy from the river..." The redhead muttered softly looking towards Gary, but then she looked over his shoulder and spotted Ash standing there, the blood rushing from his cheeks as she pointed at him, "And you're the one that stole my bike!"

"I'm really sorry!" The frightened boy exclaimed trying to calm the redhead down as she started to stomp over towards him.

Shaking his head Gary gripped the girl's shoulder and held her back from beating Ash over the head from stealing her bike, and then promptly trashing it – if the bike that Ash stole was the same one that was laying in a charred mess behind where the girl had fallen. "Thanks for telling me the way to the Pokemon Centre, the Pikachu I found is going to be fine now." Gary spoke softly, a gentle smile settling onto his lips as the girl stopped struggling and sighed.

"Anything for a Pokemon." The girl replied quietly. "I'm Misty by the way."

"Its nice to meet you." Gary offered a couple of seconds later, "I'm sorry about Ashy-boy trashing your bike."

"Yeah, well, he'll just have to repay me for it sometime!" Misty glared over at the almost cowering boy. Her blue eyes boring into his own black ones as she stared him down.

"I will... its just my Pikachu, he isn't doing so well." Ash stammered in reply as he turned to look at the red light shining above the door to the emergency room, "I can't do anything until I know he's going to be alright."

"Tch..." Misty sighed, rubbing her forehead with her hand as she moved towards one of the chairs in the waiting area of the Pokemon Centre, "It can't be helped I suppose."

The light to the emergency room blinked off a couple of moments later, prompting Ash to run over and stand by the doorway, waiting for it to open. When the opaque doors did slide open Nurse Joy was behind the gurney pushing it out through the door into the main lobby, "Is he going to be alright?" Ash asked quickly, his hands resting on the side of the gurney and looking down at Pikachu's closed eyes.

"The operation went well, it's good that you got him here as quick as you did, but he's going to need to rest for a while." Nurse Joy replied softly, placing her hand down on Ash's shoulder, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Thank you!" The raven haired boy exclaimed loudly, sighing softly and stroking the soft fur on Pikachu's side for a moment.

"You should sit with him in the recovery ward." Nurse Joy continued a moment later as she started to push the cart over towards the door which Gary had gone out of before.

Seconds later there was the sound of breaking glass – it fell to the ground in a clattering sound of tinkling pieces of glass – but in the middle of the break in the skylight there was the cause of the glass breaking. Two small round red balls fell down through the air from high above, hitting the floor and then bouncing up into the air again as they burst open. The balls seemed to crack around the middle before splitting open and exploding in a bright flash of red light.

Two shapes emerged from the red balls, one taking on the form of a long coiled snake – its tongue flicking back and forth as it slithered along the ground while the other took the form of a floating orb – jets of gas being pushed out of it, seemingly keeping it afloat as it hovered above the ground.

Another object hit the ground inbetween the two Pokemon, opening up and releasing a great another of smoke until it filled the entire lobby and made it hard to breathe. "A smoke grenade!" Gary called out, covering his mouth with his hand and coughing hard.

"Whose there?" Ash cried wildly, spinning around on the spot to try and catch a glimpse of the perpetrators through the smog.

"Prepare for trouble." A woman's voice called through the fog, the sound of feet hitting the tiled floor causing a click to sound through large space.

"And make it double." A masculine voice answered the first, another pair of feet hitting the ground in the middle of the smog.#

"To protect the world for devastation," The female voice said again, the smoke beginning to clear from the lobby to reveal the silhouettes of the two people.

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie." The woman called out, her bright magenta hair flashing through the smog as she walked forwards towards where the group were standing.

"James..." A blue haired man stepped forward to take his place beside the dark red haired woman.

"Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light," The woman spoke again, her features becoming more visible as the smoke cleared.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"And Meowth, that's right." A small cat like figure of a Pokemon dropped from the ceiling, Gary supposed that it must have come through the skylight, standing up on it's hind legs as it looked around the lobby.

"What do you want?" Ash asked, waving the smoke away from his eyes as he looked through the darkness.

"The pipsqueak wants to know what we want James." The woman laughed softly.

The man laughed with her, it was a slightly cruel laugh that sent shivers up and down Gary's back as he listened it to. "Well Jessie, I suppose we should tell him then, shouldn't we."

It was the cat like Pokemon that spoke up next, hopping onto the shoulders of his human team-mates and speaking to the group backed up against the door, "We're Team Rocket, here to collect rare and valuable Pokemon, so hand them over!"

"This is a centre for the weak and injured!" Nurse Joy exclaimed loudly, pulling back on the cart with Pikachu on it to emphasize her point.

"You're not getting my Pikachu!" Ash cried placing himself between the two Team Rocket members and the cart.

"We don't want your measly little Pikachu twerp," Meowth sneered, "We only want rare Pokemon!"

"Knoffing, Ekans! Attack!" Jessie and James called together. Knoffing moved forward slowly as it drifted through the air, filling the room with it's toxic smoke as Ekans darted along the floor towards where the group were standing.

"We need to save the Pokemon!" Nurse Joy called ushering the group out of the room and down the corridor.

Gary raced along behind the other two, looking over his shoulder to see if the Rocket's Pokemon were following them, Nurse Joy directed them into a room and closed the door, locking it with a press of a button before the lights suddenly dimmed and turned off. "They must have cut the power..." Gary muttered to himself looking at the Pokeballs lined up on the walls, they had to think of a way to get them out of the Pokemon Centre, and quickly.

"It doesn't matter, they don't know we've got our own Pika-Power system." Nurse Joy stated, pulling back the covering of a large closed off area that held ten yellow coloured mice.

"You've got our own Pikachu!" The redhead said softly, watching as the Pokemon climbed up onto the treadmill and began to run around, constantly sending sparks of electricity into the generator set up above the treadmill prompting the lights to turn back on and the computer systems to reboot.

"This is Viridian Pokemon Centre calling Pewter Pokemon Centre, please respond." Nurse Joy said, quickly inputting a series of commands into the computer and beginning the process to transfer the Pokeballs to Pewter Pokemon Centre. "We have an emergency situation, beginning the transfer of Pokeballs now."

"We are ready to receive Pokeballs Viridian, please commence the procedure." A monotone voice came from the computer, startling Gary for a moment because it sounded almost exactly like the Nurse Joy that was sat in the room with them.

"Thank you Pewter," The Nurse replied, inputting another series of commands into the computer to begin the transfer of the Pokeballs. "We have to save those Pokemon."

"Right!" Ash called, beginning to take Pokeballs off the shelves and load them into the transporter faster than the mechanical arm could.

The group raced around the room, depositing Pokeball after Pokeball into the machine, but for every ball that they managed to get transported it looked like there were three more taking its place on the shelf. "There are so many!" Misty cried as she carried another arm full of Pokeballs to the machine. "We're never going to get them all out in time."

"We will." Ash assured the girl, a droplet of sweat working its way down his forehead from the heat building up inside the closed room.

"They're coming..." Gary called out loudly, his voice lost amongst the sounds of the machines working and the heavy footfalls coming from the other occupants of the room.

Moments later Gary found himself thrown back onto the ground, looking up at the blinking lights as he tried to work out what had hit him. "Eevee?" The boy called out meekly, shaking his head and struggling to climb to his feet again. "Where are you?"

The brunette squinted around in the smog that had filled the room for a moment before he felt the tell-tale feeling of Eevee's fur brushing against the bottom of his cargo pants, the sharp spark that raced up and down his leg for a moment alerted him to Pikachu's whereabouts on his other side.

"Get Pikachu away from here." He called to Ash, squaring up in front of the two Pokemon blocking the way to the rest of the group. "I'll hold them off here."

"Look James, the boy thinks he's got what it takes to beat us." Jessie sneered down at the brunette, a smirk spreading across her lips as she watched the bead of sweat work it's way down Gary's forehead to trickle down the side of his face.

"I see, so the twerp has attitude." James laughed, "Get out of the way boy, you don't have what it takes."

"We'll see." Gary murmured softly, "Eevee tackle Knoffing now! Pikachu, thundershock the Ekans!"

Eevee darted out from Gary's side quickly, zigzagging around the floor until it was underneath the much slower form of Knoffing before bolting up off the ground and making towards the bottom of the gaseous Pokemon. However in a show of its lightning fast speed the snake Pokemon uncoiled and raced across the floor, slamming its head into the side of Eevee seconds before Pikachu's thundershock careened through the air behind it.

"Not fast enough little boy." The lavender blue haired man taunted, a smirk like Jessie's settling over his lips as he watched Gary clench his teeth.

"Eevee, quick attack now!" The brunette called out, readying himself to turn and run out of the same door that Ash exited minutes before.

"He's holding us up. Get rid of him." Meowth called from next to the other two Rockets.

"Ekans, acid!" The female member of the trio called to her Pokemon, prompting it to spit a huge globule of acid out of its mouth in the direction of Gary's Pikachu.

The chocolate coloured eyes of the brunette watched as the globule came closer and closer to the bandaged form of the yellow mouse, his eyes widened as he looked into the bright blue eyes of the Pokemon, for the first time recognising the deepness of them. "Sparks, dodge it!"

The Pikachu looked confused for a moment before it understood that Gary was talking to it. The mouse hunched down on his hind legs and pushed off from the ground seconds ahead of the globule of acid sending the little mouse flying through the air and barrelling into Gary's arms.

"Come on Eevee lets go!" Gary called, wheeling around and bursting out the door behind him and racing down the corridor towards the lobby. "Move it Ash!"

The raven haired boy looked behind him, catching a glimpse of the rushing figure before turning and pushing the cart with his Pikachu on it through the main doors and into the empty lobby. The young trainer rushed forward without looking where he was going and crashed into the upturned charred metal mess that was the remains of Misty's bike. Ash was sent crashing to his knees, the cart rocked from side to side for a moment before settling back down again.

"Pika?"

Ash's Pikachu raised it's head and looked around him, eyes barely able to focus on the moving figures in front of it as it swayed from side to side. "Pika, Pi." It called out into the large empty space, as if it expected something to happen.

Moments later there was a rumbling in the distance as something moved loudly and quickly, then there was the crescendo of cries as Pikachu upon Pikachu raced into the room from the sides and piled upon the cart in the middle of the room. Together they all cried out their name loudly – sparks dancing in the air around them as they did so making it crackle and pop. The sparks coalesced into a large lightning bolt shaped mass of electricity speeding towards the forms of the member of Team Rocket.

"Uh oh..." Meowth murmured softly as his eyes widened at the sight of the bolt heading straight for them.

"That's not good..." James muttered a split second before the shock hit him and sped throughout his entire system causing him to scream with pain – what felt like pin pricks raced through every single nerve ending settling them on fire as the Pikachu's collective thundershock hit the trio.

Ash's Pikachu emerged from the middle of the heap, climbing to the top before settling itself down on the broken wheel mounting of Misty's destroyed bike, "Pi, Pikachu, Pi." It said quickly, pointing first to itself and then to the bike.

"You want more power?" Ash asked wonderingly a moment later.

"What are you brats up to?" Jessie exclaimed climbing painfully to her feet.

"We're giving Pikachu a supercharge!" The raven haired Pokemon trainer replied as he started to peddle the bike faster and faster, supplying energy to the generator for the headlamp. "Pikachu, thundershock attack!"

"Help him out Sparks!" Gary called loudly, "Thundershock now!"

Two lightning bolts came out of the twin yellow mice, speeding through the air towards where the Team Rocket trio were standing. "Ekans, Knoffing stop them!" Jessie called wildly, trying to prevent the Pokemon from charging their attack.

"Eevee, tackle those Pokemon!" The brunette called fiercely, standing beside his Pokemon as it charged its attack.

"Eve, Vee!" The little brown fox replied as he barrelled along the ground towards the snake, picking up speed as he went. "EEVEE!" It cried as it bashed into the side of the snake, sending it flying backwards into its floating friend.

"PIKACHU!" The mice all said together, unleashing their attack on the members of Team Rocket.

Seconds after the attack hit the team an explosion happened behind them from the energy of the electricity in the air sending the trio up and out of the ceiling's skylight in a blaze of fire and a waterfall of glass. The three members and their balloon disappeared off into the distance until nothing but a cloud of smoke could be seen from the Pokemon Centre.


	6. Viridian Forest

**Author's Note: At the moment I'm trying to get to grips with writing actual Pokemon battles, I hope that so far I have done this alright. Please read and review, I always like to know what my readers think of my writing, good or bad.**

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The Lone Samurai.

Long brown locks of hair fell in front of tired eyes as the boy stared over the width of the lobby room towards the other two children that occupied the room. They were stood there, off to the side immersed in their own world arguing about something that probably didn't matter but that was definitely unimportant to the brunette. The raven haired boy's Pikachu stood off to the side of the two watching their interactions and making a strange giggling sound occasionally which the brunette knew meant that he was laughing at his trainer. A small smile was struggling to find it's way onto Gary's lips as he watched his childhood rival arguing with the red haired girl – his eyes moving between the pair as if he was watching a tennis ball being volleyed between them.

A lazy hand reached up at first meaning to move the locks of hair away from his eyes but instead he reached for the Pikachu that rested on his shoulder, his fingertips scratching it under the chin softly and affectionately. His other hand rested on Eevee's stomach from where he had stretched out over his lap and refused to move the entire time that Gary had been sat on the chair. "I'm glad you're comfortable." The brunette chuckled as he rubbed the little fox's stomach softly, listening to it purr under his touch.

"Eevee," It replied, settling it's muzzle down on top of it's front paws again and closing it's eyes.

"Aren't you going to go with them?"

The sweet gentle voice that belonged to Nurse Joy invaded the brunette's ears, calming the nerves that were starting to show in the movements of his fingers on Eevee's soft stomach.

"No, I don't think so." The boy replied softly, cocking his head to the side and staring at the two other trainers again.

"Why not?" Joy asked, sitting down in the chair beside the boy her eyes also looking across the room at the other two children. "It seems like you know the boy."

"I do, we're both from Pallet Town." Gary replied softly, "But this is my journey, and I need to do it without him."

"I think I understand," Joy answered the boy softly, watching as the boy flashed back to the many different and more often than not stupid competitions that he had put himself through to beat Ash. "When are you going to be leaving then?"

"Early tomorrow morning, I want to get a good start on the forest." The brunette's soft voice said gently, his hand reaching up and brushing a stray lock of deep brown hair away from his forehead though a moment later it was right back where it was before tickling his forehead. "Can you tell me against about the Pokemon that live in the forest?"

"Most of the Pokemon there are Bug types, like Caterpie and Weedle. There evolutions are there too, but you would most likely have a better chance of catching the pre-evolved forms." The nurse informed the young boy thinking over all the different Pokemon that she had seen in the forest.

"How long will it take to get through?" The brunette asked softly, tilting his head towards the nurse as he asked her.

"Normally it takes around five days to make it through, or so I have been told." The pink haired woman replied softly, "You'll be wanting to go to bed soon if you want to make an early start tomorrow."

"Thank you." The brunette replied, "Can you answer one more question?"

"It would be my pleasure," Joy smiled sweetly at the boy – the corners of her lips lifting up and making her eyes crinkle and a light shine within them.

"What happens when a trainer catches more than six Pokemon? I know that you can only carry six at a time." The brunette asked softly, scratching the back of his neck idly, "Is that why my father receives new Pokemon all the time?"

"Yes," Joy replied, "The Pokemon get caught and then if the trainer is carrying six Pokemon at the time the Pokeball with the new Pokemon gets transported to the place where the trainer started their journey – to their home town. For you that would be to Professor Oak in Pallet Town at his laboratory."

"Thank you," Gary spoke softly, tapping Eevee on the stomach to wake him up before he went to stand. "I'll be heading to bed then. Thank you for looking after Pikachu."

"It is what I do." Nurse Joy stated as she walked away from Gary towards the other two children, directing them off down another corridor to what Gary supposed were more guest rooms.

The boy took a moment to look up at the ceiling of the Pokemon Centre; at the broken skylight that had littered glass all over the floor of the lobby, and at the hole where the two adults and their Pokemon had been sent through earlier that morning – and their talking Meowth. Gary wondered how long that Meowth had spent trying to speak human language before he had managed to actually speak it.

As the boy laid down to sleep that night he pictured all the different things he was going to see on his adventure, of all the different places that he was going to go and of the places where he would battle to get another gym badge to allow him entry into the Indigo Plateau Pokemon League. "Have you ever seen a Pokemon like that golden one before Eevee?" Gary asked late into the night staring at the ceiling thinking back on the golden bird like Pokemon that had flown over the rainbow during their escape from the flock of Spearow.

"Ev, Vee." The little brown fox answered negatively as it thought back to that Pokemon, and the wonder it felt when he saw it flying overhead.

"I thought not." The brunette spoke gently, turning onto his side and curling the blanket around himself tightly. "I'll find out one day."

"Eev," The tired little fox replied before settling back down on top of Gary's feet, warming them through the blanket as both boy and Pokemon drifted off into sleep.

Morning came much too early for the boy – the sunlight piercing his eyes as it came through the curtains in bright rays of golden colours. The boy brought a hand up to his eyes and rubbed them, blocking out the sunlight with the back of his hand as he stretched and yawning – internally grumbling that it was much too early to be awake. Eevee wasn't much better as it stretched out on the end of the bed, complaining in whines that Gary's movements had awoken him much too early for his liking.

"Come on Eevee," Gary mumbled, rubbing the sleep out his eyes finally managing to get his body to cooperate and allow him to sit up properly. "I guess it is time to wake up properly."

"Eve," The Pokemon whined, jumping off the edge of the bed and padding along the floor.

The brunette shuffled around the room, collecting the clothes that he had discarded the night before on his way to the shower – the cargo pants he found laying over the back of the chair beside the bed and his boots were neatly placed by the end of the bed, tucked into the corner. From his backpack the boy pulled out a black t-shirt and another smaller bag into which he stuffed the dirtied clothes from the day before. Tightening the top of the backpack the boy closed the top tightly and picked up by one of the arm straps, swinging up onto his shoulder, clipping his belt securely around his waist making sure that the all five of the Pokeballs were properly attached onto it. Pikachu had returned to its Pokeball the night before once Nurse Joy had removed the bandages.

"One more Pokemon and then my team is full." Gary mumbled under his breath, turning to Eevee, "Come on Eevee, time for breakfast."

The word breakfast seemed to peak the little fox's interest as it lifted its head and quickly made its way over towards him, standing by his side a moment later looking up imploringly. The brunette shook his head and opened the door, releasing Eevee to race down the corridor and into the lobby.

Gary followed the little Pokemon at a more calm pace, going over inside his head all the things that he would need to remember about the forest and the Pokemon that lived inside it. The first thing he was going to do was go to the PokeMart and buy himself some antidotes just in case the bug type managed to poison his Pokemon. Pushing open the door to the lobby Gary walked across it to where Eevee was standing – next to a door that had written on the front of it 'kitchen'.

"Good boy," Gary whispered leaning down and ruffling his little Pokemon's fur. Pressing down on the handle of the door Gary poked his head through looking around for Nurse Joy, "Excuse me, is there anyone here?"

"Please Gary, come through." The sweet and gentle voice that belonged to Nurse Joy called from through another archway in the building, probably leading to the dining room. "Breakfast foods are on the counter, and Pokemon food is there too."

"Thank you."

The young trainer quickly collected both himself and Eevee a bowl of food for breakfast and brought it into the other room where Nurse Joy was sitting calmly eating her own meal. As soon as the food was placed down on the floor Eevee was gobbling it up, purring sometimes when he stopped to breathe before resuming his quick eating. Gary followed the little Pokemon but again he ate more slowly, lost in his thoughts of the coming day.

Both were done in under fifteen minutes and standing to make their way out of the room, when Nurse Joy stopped them by calling out to Gary, "Good luck on your journey."

"Thank you." The boy replied politely, internally thinking that with Eevee on his side he didn't need good luck but he would accept the kind words anyway.

The sun's golden rays were shining all around the Pokemon Centre as the pair exited the almost destroyed lobby – turning around to look at the carnage properly Gary wondered how on earth they were able to get away with putting a hole that large in the roof without the rest of it collapsing but he was diverging. The boy gave a cursory glance to the town map that he held in his hand and turned down one of the side streets that lead away from the centre, the cement slabs of the pavement almost seemed to make a slapping sound every time his foot was placed down in front of him to make another step forward. Eevee skipped ahead of his young trainer, sniffing all over the ground and looking into every little pothole that he could. The brunette trainer watched as the little fox inquired into everything, smiling a little at the child like curiosity that the fox expressed at every new thing he saw.

"Eevee!" Gary called out to the fox, causing it to turn around and peer back over it's shoulder at the young brunette, "This way." The boy pointed down another road that Eevee had skipped over racing down the path that they were currently on. "We've got to go to the PokeMart first."

"Eev," The little fox replied, turning around and making it's way back to Gary's side, rubbing it's face against his leg before proceeding to happily trot along beside him.

Gary's dark eyes scanned the fronts façades of the buildings that the pair passed on their way down the main road until he spotted the blue front that indicated the PokeMart. Angling through the crowd towards that building the boy slipped inside the front doors with Eevee practically unnoticed by anyone, "Come on Eevee, let's find those antidotes and be out of here!"

"Eve," The Pokemon ruefully replied, shaking itself vigorously as if trying to get something off of it.

The trainer and his Pokemon made their way down the first aisle scanning over the names of the different displays until they found the antidote case, "Here it is..." Gary said, reaching into the case and taking out a vial that said on the side that it held five uses. "This should work Eevee."

The pair made their way to the front of the room and placed the item down on the counter, waiting for the clerk to turn around and notice that there was someone wanting to pay. "Sorry for making you wait, is this all?"

"Yes," Gary's hard voice came out from between his lips as he looked over the man unfavourably – he was dressed scruffily and his hair was a dress, seemingly indicating that he wasn't a very reliable man.

"That'll be two hundred PokeDollars." The clerk said, handing Gary the bag with the vial inside.

The brunette handed the man the money, turning around quickly and heading out of the shop. Outside he slipped the antidote vial out of the bag and placed it inside one of the leg pockets of his cargo pants before depositing the bag in the waste bin outside the store, "Come on Eevee, time to head into the forest."

Once the pair had made their way out of the main city they escaped the crowds that had lined the main streets. It seemed that only a few people ever really frequented these roads and most of them were the ones that were going to make their way through the forest and towards the next town over, though there were still a few houses along the path every now and then.

The cement and concrete slabs that had made up the pavement in the middle of town soon gave way into the dirt tracks that Gary had walked along the day before on his way from Pallet to Viridian, here the ground grumbled under every single one of his footsteps and the cracks that ran along in the dirt were wide enough that Eevee was forced in places to jump over them. It seemed that this road had not experienced the rain fall of the day before in anything more than a couple of light showers. However in the distance the boy could see the forest - the lush green leaves of the trees stood out against the pale blue skies of the morning, the sun highlighting the way that the trees climbed into the heavens almost reaching for the glowing ball of.

"Inside there, we've got a lot of training to do." Gary whispered to the little Pokemon, smiling down at it as they walked side by side. "The first gym challenge is in Pewter City, and that is just the other side of that forest. We're going to have to be stronger if we want to win our first badge - but I'm sure we will be."

"Eevee..." The fox purred in reply, completely agreeing with his trainers words and wanting more than anything to make Gary proud of him.

The pair walked along the dirt road until it brought them to the edge of the forest where they found that the track narrowed until it was not a path any longer but just a well walked stretch of land that would lead to the other side of the forest. Beneath the trees the ground was well protected from the intense sunlight, it was moist and cool to the touch - Eevee sighed in relief as it's hot paws touched the cool earth under the bows of the great trees.

The path disappeared behind them quickly – it curled and coiled like a snake twisting up on itself and turning completely as it led the pair through the woods, Gary was surprised that people were able to follow this road through the wood without getting themselves completely and utterly lost.

Once the path to the city was completely lost from behind them the brunette decided it was time to venture off the beaten track and head deeper into the forest. Twigs and dried dead leaves cracked underneath his footsteps, but Eevee's were silent and unnoticed behind him, the Pokemon's little paws making no noise against the under brush. Occasionally the boy was forced to bend his head down and duck underneath the bow of an old tree branch.

The pair came to a small clearing in between the trees, Eevee's ears pricked and Gary's eyes locked onto the small green shape in the middle of the clearing. It was a caterpillar like animal in appearance, its skin a soft pale green, a large dark orange antennae on top of it's head and pale yellow circles on each section of its body apart from it's head. Reaching into the pocket of his cargo pants Gary gripped his Pokedex tightly and drew it out of the folds of his clothes. Pointing it towards the Pokemon he waited as Dexter scanned it and produced the information.

"Caterpie, the Worm Pokemon, Caterpie uses the suction cups on its feet to climb trees and feed on its favourite leaves. This Pokemon is good for beginners because it evolves quickly, and learns powerful attacks." Dexter said quickly in its monotone voice.

"Perfect," Gary whispered softly, reaching for his belt and unclasping one of the Pokeballs that were held there choosing the one that contained the Pidgey that he had caught the day before. "Flying types should be strong against bug Pokemon..."

"I chose you, Pidgey."

The Pokeball split open and out shot a blast of red light from inside, slowly the light began to materialise into the form of a small bird.

"Pidgey!" The bird called out loudly, flapping its wings to keep it steady in the air.

The brunette trainer stepped out from behind the tree that he was leaning against and stood behind the little bird, "Pidgey, gust attack."

The little Pokemon began to flap it's wings hard and fast, but instead of moving anywhere the air pressure that came off the Pokemon's wings instead caused the sand and small pebbles from the forest's floor to lift up and begin circling the defenceless Caterpie. The collection of small pebbles struck the Caterpie when they were thrown forward by the force of the wind. The caterpillar was caught in the vortex of Pidgey's gust attack, unable to do anything apart from take the hits as the wind started to slow down.

"Pidgey, tackle it now!" Gary called out in a strong tone, one hand already reaching towards the empty Pokeballs attached to his belt unclipping one of them and pressing the release button in the middle to make the ball open.

"Pid," The bird called in reply to Gary's order, flying flat and straight at the Caterpie it folded it's wings back and slammed it's body full force into the smaller form of the defenceless bug Pokemon.

"Cater... pie..." The bug whimpered softly, obviously hurt from Pidgey's attack, it tried desperately to lift it's head up but it was unable to do so, the heavy appendage flopping back down onto the ground.

"Eve," The mahogany coloured fox called out loudly to it's trainer, promptly Gary to throw the Pokeball in his hand at the Caterpie.

Trainer and Pokemon watched the ball, waiting to see if it would stop wriggling around on the floor. The ball shook once, twice, and then again a third time before the light in the middle of the ball faded and a quiet locking noise was heard from inside the Pokeball. "I caught it..." Gary whispered softly, happily jumping over the tree stump in his way to pick up the Pokeball that contained his six Pokemon.

The brunette ran his fingers through his hair once, the grin on his face seemingly permanent as he turned and faced Pidgey. "Thank you my friend, you battled well." He spoke softly, attaching Caterpie's Pokeball to his waist as he grabbed Pidgey's, "Return."

The red laser beam shot out of the Pokeball and swallowed Pidgey, drawing it back inside the ball to rest after it's fight.

"We need to keep heading in this direction to make it out of the forest," The brunette said after consulting both the compass and the map that his grandfather had given him.

The pair walked over the moss covered earth for what seemed like miles to them – forced as they were to duck underneath branches and slip through the gaps in the bushes – until they found they're way back to the path. In all that time they saw no other person in the forest, and only encountered more Caterpie. The young trainer had used those Caterpie as training for his Pokemon, choosing to battle them for experience.

The brunette and his little fox eventually came out of the thickest part of the wood into a large clearing with no trees – but it wasn't empty. Across the clearing stood a boy, shorter in height than Gary, but most likely still around the same age. He wore on top of his head a helmet that resembled the samurai style armour of old and attached to his hip along side Pokeballs was a small sword.

"I am Samurai," The boy said loudly, his voice projecting across the open expanse of the clearing, "I have been watching you Pokemon trainer and I am impressed. I wish to request a battle with you, here and now."

Gary looked bewildered for a moment before he understood what the boy was actually talking about. Peering down at the fox at his side he asked in a soft voice, "You up for it?"

"Eve." The brown furred fox replied strongly, stepping in front of Gary and staring across the field at the other boy.

"I'm Gary Oak, and I accept your challenge." The brunette said strongly, stepping forward and facing Samurai properly.

"This will be a two on two battle, the first one whose two Pokemon are unable to battle is the loser. You agree?"

"Fine." Gary replied his eyes locked with his opponent's eyes, the fierce glare that filled them also filled Eevee's eyes. Both of them were ready for battle, and both we're going to give it their all.

Samurai settled for taking a Pokeball from his waist as he did so, "I choose you, Pinsir!"

The Pokemon that came out of the ball was large brown creature, it was definitely a bug type from the fact that it resembled a large and very overgrown beetle, but the large claws on top of its head ensured the belief that it was a powerful creature and not one to be taken lightly. The brunette's dark eyes scanned over the Pokemon's features, taking in the spikes on the claws, the hard shell that covered it's entire body and the legs and arms – limbs that appeared much too small for the rest of his body.

"I wonder what the Pokedex has to say?" The brunette pondered for a moment before drawing the object out of his pocket and pointing it at the large bug Pokemon.

"Pinsir, this fearsome Pokemon uses its powerful claws to put the squeeze on it's opponents."

"Eevee, your turn." The brunette said, waiting for the little Pokemon to rush out onto the field, standing almost protectively in front of where he was standing.

The two trainers looked at each other for a couple of moments before they each decided to begin.

"Pinsir, bind it with your claws!" The smaller boy yelled, commanding his Pokemon to grip Eevee in it's claws and squeeze it. However while being much smaller than Pinsir meant that Eevee was no where near as powerful in brute strength, it also meant that he was a lot faster than the other Pokemon, and thus he was enable to move out of Pinsir's path easily – jumping away from the powerful claws.

"Eevee, double team it!" Gary called out to the brown fox, prompting it to begin running faster and faster around Pinsir, creating little images of itself circling around the Pokemon it was moving so fast. "Now, move it for a tackle attack!"

"Eevee!" The fox yelled loudly, suddenly switching from running circles around Pinsir to barrelling straight towards it. The speed at which Eevee moved took Pinsir by surprise, the larger Pokemon was too slow to move out of Eevee's way and instead received a powerful tackle to it's torso causing it to move backward and fall onto it's back.

The Pinsir's legs trashed in the air, but it was unable to right itself the reach of it's arms was so small that laying on its back he couldn't manage to touch the ground and turn himself over.

"Pinsir, return." The boy recalled his Pokemon, cursing the fact that the new trainer standing across the field from him was able to command his Pokemon so well, so soon after beginning.

"I think I'll stick with Eevee." Gary called out, "Bring on your next Pokemon."

"Metapod!" Samurai yelled fiercely. The sound of the boy's voice made Gary weary for a moment, before he saw the shape that the red light was taking and then the Pokemon that materialised out of it.

"This should be easy..." Gary smirked at the other trainer, Eevee standing tall amongst the grass, just waiting for the signal to attack.

"Eevee, tackle attack! Lets end this quickly." Gary ordered loudly. The Pokemon took mere moments to respond charging down the field towards the unmoving form of Metapod.

The Pokemon's cocoon glistened in the sunlight, making all the hard edges stand out and the polished surface of Metapod's shell to reflect the world around it. "Metapod, harden!" Samurai called, not giving up on the battle even though something inside him was telling him that it was useless.

"Eevee, quick attack now!" The brunette commanded prompting the little fox to put on a burst of speed. When it was close enough the fox launched itself off the ground and smashed right into the emerald green shell. The fox connected with it's shoulder, transferring all the force of it's attack directly onto that one spot on Metapod's shell. "Good Eevee!" Gary congratulated the little Pokemon.

Samurai looked at the Metapod for a moment before he forlornly recalled it back into it's Pokeball.

"You battled well Gary Oak, may I ask where you come from so I might challenge more trainers from your home-town." The boy asked, calling across the clearing as he walked towards Gary and his Eevee.

"I'm from Pallet Town," The boy replied, "But you won't find anyone else there as good as I am."

"I will be happy to find that out for myself." Samurai replied. The boy turned slowly and pointed towards the end of the clearing that he had been standing at moments before, "If you go that way and north you will find your way back to the path. Shortly afterwards you will come out of the forest and onto the road leading towards Pewter City."

"Thank you." Gary nodded his head towards Samurai, his feet quickly taking him away from the clearing and heading in the direction that the other boy had pointed in, checking his compass when he was out of sight of Samurai and confirming that they were heading north.

"You battled well Eevee." The trainer praised the fox, bending down and stroking along it's soft fur. "Now, lets go find ourselves a Weedle... Nurse Joy said they'd be around here somewhere."


	7. Viridian Forest Meeting Matthew

**Author's Note: I know the ending of this chapter isn't brilliant, but Matt kind of surprised me with his inclusion in the story; when I began this chapter I had no idea that he was going to be in it. :P Thanks for reading and please review with your thoughts. I'd really appreciate it.**

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Chapter Seven: Great Expectations.

Wandering through the forest looking for that elusive Weedle had taken the brunette and his little fox the rest of the afternoon to do, but eventually they had cornered one as it tried to climb up a tree to escape from Gary's reach. The battle had been a short one, even as the evening sun set behind them – the great ball of fire spreading across the entire horizon making it glow brilliant reds and oranges – the little bug Pokemon had collapsed to the ground unable to do anything against the Pokeball that came flying towards it.

The first unexpected thing happened when the Pokeball in Gary's hand began to shake, and then glow. A second later it had disappeared from his hand and was no where in the immediate area to be found. Both the boy and this Pokemon were puzzled for a couple of moments before he remembered what Nurse Joy had told him the day before about what happened when a trainer caught more than six Pokemon. "They're transferred back to the lab..." He whispered under his breath, a small smile spreading across his lips.

"I bet that was a surprise for Grandpa." He laughed softly, chuckling to himself as Eevee cocked it's head towards him inquiringly – almost as if it were asking him what was so funny.

"Gramps has the Pokeball Eevee," The brunette grinned a little again, "It'll be in good hands with him."

"Eve," The little fox agreed, walking off out of the clearing in the direction that they had been walking all day – towards Pewter City, and the first Pokemon gym in the Kanto Region.

"In that city is our city gym," The brunette whispered softly, climbing over a fallen tree trunk. "If I remember correctly Brock, whose the gym leader, uses mainly rock type Pokemon to battle. Which means my best bet would have been to have either a Squirtle or a Bulbasaur, but I don't have either."

The brunette fell into silence as the pair walked, trying to figure out what was his best move for the upcoming battle with the Pewter City gym leader. "It has to be a Pokemon that is strong against Rock types, and at the same time as moves that can damage it..."

Gary was silent for a time as the pair walked through the forest, sometimes he would bring his hand up to his neck and brush the locks of hair away from it. "I know!" The brown haired trainer exclaimed suddenly, "Caterpie evolves into Butterfree, and Butterfree learns Psychic moves! Which are effective against rock types, so we just have to train Caterpie until it evolves."

"Eevee," The fox replied, agreeing with his trainer even though he didn't totally understand what the boy had just said.

"Caterpie, come on out." Gary called, releasing the bug Pokemon from it's Pokeball. The little caterpillar slithered along the ground until it was able to climb up the side of a tree and then jump over onto Gary's shoulder, affectionately rubbing itself against the trainer for a couple of moments.

"We need to do some training Caterpie, you think you're up for it?" The brunette asked softly – normally it wouldn't be a problem for him, but he knew that the little bug had been weak when it was caught.

"Caterpie." The Pokemon replied, nodding it's head and staring strongly into Gary's eyes.

"Good."

The trio walked for a time, fighting their way through the forest, battling Caterpie after Caterpie and Weedle after Weedle in an attempt to get Caterpie enough experience for it to evolve. As the battles went on the brunette could see that Caterpie was getting stronger, and more confident in it's abilities – the small Pokemon was also gaining confidence in it's trainer and his judgement.

It was three in the afternoon by the time that Gary met up with anyone else in the forest. The trainer was young, but he was older than Gary was and taller for it too – his long black hair was pulled back over his shoulder being kept tidy by a hair tie. The trainer wore long denim jeans that were rolled up at the bottoms and ripped at the knees giving him an almost rugged look and the white shirt that he wore was covered in dirt and half way unbuttoned.

The boy had called over to Gary when he had come out of the trees, having finally found his way back onto the path that would lead to Pewter City.

"Hey you there!" He'd called, his obnoxious voice annoying the brunette the moment that it hit his ears. "You a trainer?"

"Yes." Gary had replied, eyeing the man almost disdainfully as he took in his appearance.

"You want to battle?" The man's eyes took on a dangerous glint but the overconfidence that Gary heard in his voice made it impossible for the young trainer to say no.

"What's your name?" He'd replied with instead walking still closer to the other trainer, now able to see more of his features. Gary estimated that the trainer was another fifteen years old, he was taller than him by a full head but from what Gary could see he was lanky and long limbed more than anything else.

"I'm Matt," The raven haired boy replied, a large smile spreading across his lips as he held out his hand to Gary, "And you?"

"Gary Oak." The brunette replied, looking Matt directly in the eyes as he did so.

"Grandson of the famous Professor Oak, Pokemon researcher?" Matt asked his eyes lighting up in apparent delight, "Wow, I never thought I'd get to meet someone like you."

"You wanted to battle?" Gary asked, slightly annoyed at the mention of his grandfather, though he knew that to some extent he would always be associated with the man it was still annoying to be so far away from him and have his grandfather be mentioned because of an introduction.

"Yes," Matt smirked, "Two on two fine with you?"

"Sure." The brunette replied, walking away from Matt ten paces before turning around and facing his opponent. "Caterpie, I choose you!" The trainer called, throwing the small red and white ball out into the make shift battle field.

"Caterpie!" The green caterpillar called out loudly, it's eyes fixed on Matt as it and Gary waited for the trainers next move.

"Weedle, go!"

Matt's Weedle erupted out of it's Pokeball, facing Caterpie across the grass with a confident look in it's eyes. "You ready?" Matt called teasingly to the brunette causing the boy to grit his teeth before replying.

"Ready."

"Weedle, poison sting!" The golden coloured Pokemon opened it's mouth, little barbs shooting out in Caterpie's direction meaning to stick into the little green caterpillar.

"Caterpie, string shot, straight at those barbs." Gary ordered, hoping that Caterpie's string shot would cause the barbs to stick together and slow down making them easier for Caterpie to avoid if necessary. Long string was spat out of Caterpie's mouth, the wind blowing it slight off course, but it was still able to glue most of the barbs together at they flew at Caterpie.

"Smart move." Matt whispered to himself admiringly. It was obvious to anyone that Gary was a very new trainer, it was probably not even more than a week since he had received his first Pokemon, and yet he and his Pokemon had complete trust in one another and their abilities after such a short period of time. "I think I'll want to stick with this one."

"Weedle, it's time to go in closer." Matt called loudly to his Pokemon before he ordered it in close to the little green caterpillar, "Weedle, tackle it now."

"Caterpie, get out of the way," Gary called urgently, watching almost in slow motion as the large form of Weedle approached the little green caterpillar – he watched silently begging that Caterpie would be able to get out of the way before he saw Weedle barrel into it's side head on.

"Caterpie, you alright?" Gary called, watching as the little Pokemon lifted its head and shook itself, climbing to it's feet as it did so. "Tackle it-"

Gary's words were cut off unexpectedly because he was watching the caterpillar instead of thinking about it's next moves; from it's mouth the caterpillar was spraying fine lines of string and silk all around it creating what looking like an umbrella of string over it's head, the lines of string began to fall down around it's head after a couple of moments and enclose the caterpillar. "What just happened?" Gary wondered aloud as he looked at the Pokemon.

"Eevee?" The fox asked as well, rubbing it's head along Gary's trouser leg as it watched the little caterpillar.

"Maybe Dexter will know?" Gary pondered pulling the strange little red device out of his pocket and pointing it towards his Caterpie.

"Caterpie is evolving into it's second stage, Metapod, when it does this it houses inside in a cocoon made from it's own string shot. The string hardens leaving Caterpie enclosed in the protected environment as it's final evolutionary form matures." The Pokedex recited quickly; it's monotone voice as informative as ever.

"Caterpie is evolving?" The brunette whispered softly, turning to look down at Eevee for a moment before returning his gaze to Caterpie – however the little caterpillar was no longer what Gary was looking at instead in it's place was a large emerald green cocoon which gleamed from every angle as the light bounced off of it.

"Wow," Matt sighed, impressed with the Caterpie's evolution, from the look on his opponent's face it hadn't been at all expected though it did seem to be wanted by it's trainer. "To evolve in the middle of a battle like that is most certainly impressive."

"Metapod, we've got a battle to finish, you up for it?"

Eevee watched as the little cocooned Pokemon swivelled it's eyes around towards the brunette trainer, making contact seeming to almost send it's thought through the connection that their eyes made. "Alright Metapod," The brunette chuckled softly, "First harden, and then tackle!"

Metapod's shell glowed for a moment before it launched itself off the ground flying through the air towards the still stunned form of Weedle. Matt watched the events as they proceeded seeing them almost in slow motion – Metapod barrelled through the air, Weedle stood still awaiting a command from it's trainer... Metapod grew closer to Weedle. Matt's throat went tight and his mouth dry, he grasped for words but none came – the seconds seemed to shrink down to nothing. Metapod crashed into the golden caterpillar's side launching it off the ground tumbling head over tail until it landed heavily on the floor unable to move.

"Weedle!" Matt cried urgently, running out into the middle of the make shift battle arena and scooping the little golden coloured caterpillar into his arms, "Are you okay?"

"Wee..." The caterpillar replied weakly before sinking down into Matt's embrace; it;s eyes swirling unable to focus properly on it's surroundings.

"You won that round Gary," Matt smiled at the brunette, running his fingers through the long locks of black hair before tucking it behind his ear, "But you're not going to be so lucky with the next one."

The brunette smirked back, liking the other boy more and more as the battle went on – he wasn't the type of person that Gary would have normally interacted with in Pallet Town, but the boy was starting to see the good points about his laid back nature. "Bring it on."

"Oh, I will." The raven haired teenager replied challengingly. Weedle safely back inside it's Pokeball before he brought out his next Pokemon, "Geodude!"

"Crap..." Gary muttered under his breath, staring at the rock type Pokemon. Geodude resembled a boulder, just like a normal one that would be found on the side of any mountain, but what was different about this boulder was the fact that it was able to float about the ground and had two arms with fingers and thumbs just like humans did. The young trainer quickly went over the Pokemon that he had with him – excluding the flying types right away because of their weakness against rock and ground types like Geodude. "My only hope is that you evolve during the battle again Metapod." The boy whispered softly, staring down at the hard green cocoon.

"Metapod." The Pokemon replied, hopping out into the middle of the field, staring down at the floating rock which opposed him. The emerald green Pokemon didn't know if it would be able to defeat the rock, but it knew that it was going to try it's hardest for Gary – the young trainer had believed in it even when it didn't think it was able to do anything and had battled side by side with it to victory. Gary had earned Metapod's respect and loyalty.

"Lets get this started then!" The raven haired trainer called out from his position opposite Gary, smirking down the field at the younger boy for a moment before he turned his attention to the battle. "Geodude, rock throw!"

Looking around himself for rocks to throw the little boulder took his attention off Metapod and Gary, leaving them an opening to exploit.

"Metapod! Tackle it now!" Gary called out loudly, throwing the little cocoon forward into battle. Metapod struck Geodude hard in the side, but it didn't seem to do any damage to the rock type who just shook off the hit as if it didn't happen.

"Crap..." Gary cursed, wondering what he could do to turn the battle around. "String shot, followed by harden!"

"Going all defensive on me now Gary?" Matt taunted the boy, smirking at him. "Geodude tackle it, don't like yourself be slowed down."

"That's it..." Gary murmured softly, "It's slow, very slow."

The brunette ran his hand through his hair, pushing the short locks of fine mahogany brown hair out of his eyes as he concentrated on the battle, "Let him get close to you Metapod. Stand your ground."

The Pokemon did as it was told, staying in the same place even as Geodude came towards it, this was where the trust between it and Gary would come in, without it the plan that Gary had was not going to work. Seconds ticked by with the boulder always approaching Metapod and still Gary didn't tell it to get out of the way, instead he waited for the perfect moment.

Geodude was almost on top of the little Pokemon before the brunette trainer spoke again, "Metapod, string shot and harden now!"

There was almost not enough time for the little cocoon to do as his trainer wished, but while spewing out the fine silk wires the cocoon forced it's shell to harden growing that much stronger as it did so. The fine silk strings covered Geodude as it was unable to stop coming towards Metapod when it had started it's attack, Gary sighed in relief, happy that his idea had worked, but then he was forced to gasp loudly hoping that Metapod would be alright when Geodude was thrown hard into Metapod's shell.

"That wasn't going to be enough you knew that." Matt called over the field, "You just sacrificed your own Pokemon for nothing."

"Look again." The brown haired trainer replied, nodding towards the pile on the ground where Geodude and Metapod had ended up after the impact.

Matt's forest green eyes drifted off Gary and his Eevee towards the pile on the grass, there was Geodude, struggling to work it's way out of the string that Metapod had managed to wind around it – and in the middle of the pile there was the form of an emerald green cocoon; perfectly safe and unharmed. "How is that possible?"

"The string shot was used to slow Geodude down enough to make it's attack weaker, then harden was used to up Metapod's defence until it would be able to take the hit with minimal harm to itself." The brunette replied, a small smirk spreading over his lips.

Matt's eyes widened, admiration gleaming in them as he took in what the brunette had done – and the trust that the cocooned Pokemon had entrusted in it's trainer.

"I'm impressed Gary, that was some quick thinking." Matt congratulated the other boy nodding his head at him, "But the fights not over yet!"

"Yes it is." Gary shot back, smiling softly, "Metapod tackle one more time."

Geodude didn't have enough time to get out of the way of Metapod's attack, it's hands fumbled over the individual strands of string trying to gain enough purchase of get it out of the way but all it managed to do was get itself more tangled up in the strands of string. "Geodude!" Matt cried out loudly.

"And that is the end." The brown haired trainer grinned brightly, catching the small brown fox as it jumped up into his arms wildly licking his face.

"I'm impressed." The raven haired trainer whispered softly, walking over to Gary and his Eevee after having collected the presently passed out Geodude. "Your tactics were amazing, I wouldn't have ever thought that Geodude could have been held up by a string shot."

"Thanks... I just remembered something that I saw at my grandfather's lab." The brunette replied softly. "Thanks for the battle though."

"No problem, you were pretty damn good for a newbie." The raven haired boy laughed loudly, "Hell, I got beat by a noob, that's embarrassing."

"Why you calling me a noob?" The brunette glared at the older boy.

"Well, you only started your journey a few days ago right? That means you're a new trainer, therefore a newbie." Matt grinned ruffling the boy's hair, "But your pretty good for a total noob."

"Err," Gary raised his eyebrow at the other boy, "Thanks?"

"I was wondering..." Matt murmured softly wrapping his arm around Gary's shoulder and leaning down next to his ear, "Would you mind if I joined you?"

"Joined me?"

"On your journey?" The raven haired boy grinned brightly at the other boy, "I've always wanted to travel around and see different trainers and their techniques on raising Pokemon. What do you say?"

"Why not?" Gary shrugged, "You like him Eevee?"

The little fox looked the scruffily dressed trainer up and down, taking in everything including the large smile on his lips and nodded, purring happily at the scratch that he received in thanks from Matt. "Evee..." The fox murmured softly rubbing it's face against Matt's palm.

"Well, I guess that's that, Eevee likes you."


	8. Viridian Forest Watery Friend

**Author's Note: The end of this chapter might be a little flunky, but I couldn't think of another way to do it, so I'm sorry. The next chapter will be the first with Gary's Team Rocket in it, and I'm bringing back a few friends of Jessie and James for it :). The next chapter will come from Pewter City. :D**

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Chapter Eight: A Watery Friend in Need!

The ground was cool underneath the pads of Eevee's paws, but the sun was bright and the air was warm – so warm that neither the Pokemon nor the two trainers travelling behind it escaped from the sweat. Gary's jacket was tucked inside his backpack, the black shirt that he wore sticking to his back as the sweat slicked it down to his skin. Matt wasn't fairing much better in the heat, shirt was undone until it revealed the top of his chest and the sleeves were rolled up as fair as they would go on his biceps. The backpack that he wore was slung over one of his shoulders constantly bumping into his back as the two boys walked onwards.

Peering at the map again for the third time the grandson of Professor Oak checked the compass before diverting off the beaten track in search of something else – something that might help them escape the heat of the day for a little while.

"Hey!" Matt called out loudly running to catch up with the mahogany brown haired boy, when his feet hit the ground hard both boys were able to hear the sounds of leaves crunching under the weight of the older boy, "Where you going?"

"The map says there is a lake around here somewhere," The brunette replied, shrugging his shoulders, "I thought we might go check it out, in this heat there are bound to be Pokemon."

The raven haired teen thought for a moment before he nodded and shrugged his shoulders, "And if there isn't then at the very least we-" he said pointing first to himself and then to the brunette "Get to cool off a little."

"My thoughts exactly," Gary smirked, "According to the map and where I think we are we should just keep heading in this direction to hit the lake, it's not on the path because it takes you away from the direction of Pewter City if you're heading from Viridian, but what the heck, it's hot and I think we all could do with some relief."

"I think you're right." Matt laughed loudly, his voice reverberating throughout the air around the two boys, "I don't even want to think about what we smell like by now!"

Gary took one look at the little fox Pokemon in front of him, who was making sure to keep itself upwind of the two boys. He watched as the fox turned it's nose up at Matt when he spoke and grinned before replying, "I think Eevee knows, and doesn't like it."

"Yeah yeah, there's always someone." Matt joked, a grin spreading across his lips.

Matthew had been travelling with Gary since their fight three days before, and now they were approaching Pewter City – within a day they would be there, and Gary had his heart set on challenging the Pewter City gym leader as soon as he got there. Matthew had been watching the boy whenever he battled – whether that be with trainers that he meets up with along the way, or with wild Pokemon – the raven haired boy watched the way that Gary battled with his Pokemon and was impressed with what he saw. However Gary didn't have to impress him to get the Boulder Badge, he had to beat Brock, the Gym Leader, in a Pokemon Battle.

The two trainers plodded onwards for another little while, their feet making crunching noises as they set them down on the crumbly soil underneath their feet. Eevee darted around, sometimes between the boys, and sometimes ahead of them as if it were checking out the area before they reached it.

Sweat trickled down the back of Gary's neck, pooling at the top of his shirt before streaming down his back and soaking through the material, "Yuck," The boy moaned softly feeling the shirt get even wetter and stick to his skin all the easier, "Disgusting."

"I take it that you never had to experience the delights of travelling while in Pallet?" Matt remarked, a boyish splattered onto his lips as he spoke.

"Not this kind of travelling." Gary replied, eyeing the direction in which Eevee had just run off.

The little fox had darted into the under-bush as if it had seen something, it's tail flicking from side to side quickly and excitedly in a fashion that Gary had only seen before when he was waiting to battle, before it scampered back out of the bushes looking over in the two boy's direction. "Eevee!" The little fox cried out loudly, nodding it's head backwards and darting into the bushes again.

"I think Eevee's found something," Gary grinned widely, "Now all I can hope is that it is the lake that I was wanting to take a dip in!"

Matthew didn't have time to reply before Gary was tearing off down the slight slope down towards the bushes and trees that Eevee had disappeared under moments before. The raven haired teen stood for a couple of minutes, chuckling at the boy's expense before he followed the brunette, at a slightly calmer pace than the other boy had gone.

Breaking through the trees hadn't been at all difficult for the little fox Pokemon, but the difficulty had come when Gary was forced to contort his body into shapes that it wasn't designed to be in to manage to get through the trees the same way that Eevee had. The boy had leaves poking out in all directions in his hair by the time that he had managed to climb through the wall of trees, but his discomfort was eclipsed by the happiness that filled him on the other side. There in front of his eyes was a large pool of cerulean blue water that must have been the size of three or more swimming pools. The brunette had been right when he said that there would be Pokemon around the lake, but that wasn't the only thing that was there – dotted around the banks of the lake there were Pokemon trainers, stripped to their undergarments and bathing themselves in the cool water.

"Looks like you lead me to the right place," Gary whispered to the small fox, scratching it affectionately behind the ears before taking off to find himself a spot on the side of the lake. He knew that Matt would be somewhere behind him so didn't worry about losing the boy, he'd be more than happy to see all the Pokemon when he burst through the trees.

The banks next to the lake were grassy and moist, the water licked at the edges of the banks, almost trying to draw the trainers in to take a swim the moment that they got there. Looking out across the water the brunette tried to count the number of Pokemon that were at the water's edge, but he stopped counting when he reached ten types. Idly the brunette wondered if all the Pokemon here belonged to trainers, or if some of them were wild.

A loud chortling sound erupted behind the brunette, and then a moment later both he and Eevee were dripping wet with water.

Slowly the boy turned around, wiping the long locks of brown hair that had had become stuck to his forehead behind his ear. His dark chocolate brown eyes focused in on the culprit behind his soaking, before growing wide with excitement. There behind him on the bank of the lake was stood a small blue Pokemon, it's shell was a light brown and the rings that protruded it were a softer colour. "A Squirtle..." Gary whispered happily.

The water Pokemon continued to laugh at the drenched boy and his little fox for a couple more minutes before it turned and raced off towards the other end of the lake, diving into the water and swimming to the little island in the middle. "I bet that is why there are so many trainer here..." The boy murmured softly to himself. "I've gotta be the one to catch it!"

"You're not going to catch that Squirtle." A young girl's voice called out from behind the soaked trainer.

The brunette turned around slowly, taking the girl in from her toes – up the toned legs that had been perfected from many days swimming to the trim waist and then up to her face. The girl's hair was a soft dirty blonde, hanging around her shoulders in loose damp waves. "Why aren't I?" The brown haired trainer asked challengingly – the brunette didn't like being told what he could and couldn't do.

"No offence meant." The girl quickly added, a smile crossing her lips as she approached Gary, "I'm Aqua – my parents named me after they're love of water, go figure."

Gary was forced to smile at that, his opinion of the girl changing as she talked to him, "I'm Gary Oak."

"Nice to meet cha." The girl held out her hand and grasped Gary's in a tight grip. "Lots of trainers come here wanting to catch that Squirtle, but none ever manage it and eventually they all walk off annoyed with their inability to catch it."

For a moment the brunette boy watched the little water Pokemon frolicking with the other water Pokemon that were bathing in the lake. It didn't seem to be any different from the other Pokemon around the lake – or the other Squirtle that he had seen helping out his grandfather. "I don't see anything different about him."

"You wouldn't," Aqua replied, sitting down on the grass beside where the brunette was standing.

Following her the boy placed his backpack down on the bank above where Aqua was sat and fell down so that he was sitting next to her. Gripping the edge of his shirt he took one look towards Aqua, silently asking if it was alright watching for her nod before he pulled the sweat soaked material up and over his head revealing the tanned and toned chest that he had acquired from helping his grandfather. The boy removed his boots at the same time, placing them with his shirt and his backpack before sitting down properly next to the blonde girl.

"So why can't he be caught?" Gary asked after a couple of moments looking out across the water.

"Something about his mentality, he wants a good fight and he just doesn't quit – even when everything seems like its over and he should just roll over and give up he doesn't. Reminds me of my brother sometimes..." The girl trailed off there and stopped speaking.

"Well, I don't give up either, I'll give that Squirtle the fight that it wants." Gary grinned widely, "And I'm going to catch it too."

"Good luck," Aqua smiled softly. "If you can I want to be there and see."

"Alright," Gary smiled, "Squirtle you're as good as mine."

The next morning the sun clawed it's way over the horizon soundly, making the surface of the lake shine and shimmer as the rays of light bounced off the surface. "Beautiful," Gary whispered softly, peering out over the water. Sitting up in his sleeping bag the boy ran his hand through his sleep tousled hair, yawning and stretching his arms above his head feeling his shoulders pop and crack before he relaxed.

The brunette smirked as he looked at the water, "Today is the day Squirtle." He whispered softly, looking down at the little brown fox that was curled up in a ball at the end of the sleeping bag.

"You ready Eevee?" He asked softly, scratching the Pokemon behind the ears softly, smiling as it purred loudly and stretched it's body out in a feline manner. "Yup, you're ready... just not happy at me for waking you up."

"Eve." The fox replied stiffly, running it's nose up and running towards the edge of the lake, taking a couple of licks experimentally before thinking that the water was fine to drink and slurping it down happily.

The brunette fished out his shorts from the black backpack he carried and changed quickly before going down to the edge to join Eevee, cupping water in his hands the young trainer drank quickly. "I want to get this started before any of the other trainers wake up."

Placing one hand on his belt, he quickly unhooked one of the Pokeballs and opened it. The red light shot out and came away back to the ball quickly, leaving the small yellow mouse next to Eevee on the side of the lake. The mouse yawned loudly and stretched it's body out, rolling it's head from side to side for a moment before it turned and looked at Gary. "Pika." The mouse cried, leaping up into Gary's arms and nuzzling it's face against his neck.

"I've got a job for you today Pikachu," The young trainer spoke gently, stroking the mouse's head softly, "There's a water Pokemon in that lake that I want to catch – it's going to be a hard battle but I believe that you can do it."

Pikachu looked out across the water and nodded it's head, "Pika!" It cried loudly, beaming up at Gary and then leaping down beside Eevee and standing next to the fox. "We'll have to get across to that island – so there is going to be some swimming if you both are alright with that?"

Shortly after he spoke both the young trainer and the two Pokemon were in the water and swimming over towards the island that was in the middle of the lake. "Just a little further," Gary encouraged the two little Pokemon, though if he was honest with himself it was more for him than for them as they didn't seem to be having a problem with the swimming even though he had expected that they would.

Dragging himself up onto the shore the trainer shook his head, spraying droplets of water around himself, the brown locks slicked to the side of his head and forehead. A slightly tanned hand reached up and wiped the locks off his forehead, but a moment later they fell back there again anyway. "Annoying." The brunette muttered glaring at one of the strands before shrugging his shoulders and turning to the little mouse and fox. "Come on."

"Eve!" Eevee cried out, bounding forward and taking its place beside Gary, Pikachu walked more slowly, shaking itself every few moments.

It took the trio about half an hour to find the hiding place of the Squirtle, and when they did they were surprised by what they saw. Little water Pokemon were scattered around the small pool in the middle of the clearing; some looked as if they were hurt but most of them were perfectly fine and Squirtle was stood over them, looking out for all of them.

Gary held his hands up as he walked into the middle of the clearing, showing that he didn't want to catch any of the Pokemon there – they were all hurt, he rationalised, they weren't strong enough to battle properly and he wasn't going to hurt something even worse than they already were.

"Squirtle!" He called out loudly, "There is only one Pokemon here that I want to fight."

"Squirtle, Squirt." The blue turtle seemed to understand what Gary had said and jumped down from the small rock out cropping that it had been stood upon previously. The turtle looked over Gary and the two Pokemon stood beside him, as if appraising him for the his worth in a battle before nodding slowly and walking away, motioning for Gary to follow him.

The two travelled a little distance away from the other Pokemon before Squirtle stopped and motioned to the brunette that this was going to be their battle ground. The site that the turtle had chosen was on the edge of the lake facing where the brunette had swam from – the boy could see Aqua and Matt on the side of the lake, looking out across the water at him. Around Aqua's neck there looked to be a set of binoculars, which every few minutes she would lift to her eyes and peer around the lake, probably looking for where the brunette had disappeared off to. Once she spotted him standing across from the Squirtle she waved enthusiastically before going quiet and concentrating on the Gary and the Squirtle.

"You ready Pikachu?" Gary asked softly, "You're an electric type so you should have no problem taking on this water type. You've just got to give it your all."

Squirtle eyed the little electric mouse, a smirk forming on its face as it did so, almost as if it thought that the little mouse wasn't going to be a problem to it. "He thinks your weak Pikachu," Gary murmured softly to the little mouse, clenching his fists tight, "Lets prove him wrong."

"Pika!" The mouse cried out loudly, a fierce look coming into it's eyes as it stared down at the water Pokemon.

"Pikachu, agility!" Gary commanded loudly, watching as the little mouse started running quickly, almost disappearing for seconds at a time it moved so fast across the sandy beach, "Quick attack."

The direction of the footprints changed suddenly, veering off towards the turtle – for a moment they left the ground and disappeared as Pikachu reappeared, slamming it's head into Squirtle's side hard, knocking it back a few paces before jumping away from the Pokemon.

"Quick before it recovers, thundershock!" Gary yelled out loudly, hoping that the electric mouse would have enough time to get the attack off before Squirtle could recover from the previous hit.

However the blue turtle seemed to have other ideas because it withdrew back into it's shell quickly, drawing it's limbs back inside the protective embrace of the shell, waiting for the attack to be over. Gary gritted his teeth, thinking quickly about what he could do to get the turtle into a vulnerable situation.

"Pikachu, ease off on the thunderbolt." He called out, giving the electric mouse a rest. The brunette's keen eyes could see the way that the little mouse was panting from exertion, cursing silently the boy thought over his options quickly. The boy's mind raced through combinations for attacks before he finally thought that he had hit the right option.

Squirtle on the other hand didn't feel like waiting for his opponent to make the next move, flinging it's limbs and head out of the shell it directed a powerful water gun straight at Pikachu barely giving the mouse enough time to dodge the blast. "Pikachu wait for the attack to come and then thunderbolt right at the water!"

The mouse stood it's ground, digging it's hind legs into the soft sand as it waited for the blast of cold water to come. Squirtle shot the water out of it's mouth a moment later, sending the gurgling flow straight towards Pikachu, still the little Pokemon didn't move, waiting for exactly the right moment.

Gary bit down on his bottom lip, watching in slow motion as the water approached before calling out loudly, "NOW!"

Pikachu scrunched it's face up for a moment, collecting the energy needed to give off the thunderbolt before he sprang up into the air, opening out it's body and sending a massive electrical charge directly at the Squirtle's water gun. The brunette trainer could hear cheering coming from the lake's bank and glanced over there, looking at Aqua as she jumped up and down and eyeing Matt as he yelled loudly.

Squirtle cried out loudly as the water conducted the electrical charge all the way back to it, the little turtle didn't have enough time to withdraw into it's shell. The Pokemon's eyes widened slightly before Gary watched as it's teeth gritted against the pain of the electricity.

The brunette watched as Squirtle fell backwards, thumping down onto the soft sandy ground beneath it. The turtle twitched for a couple of moments before it lay still. Gary held his breath for a moment before he sighed loudly, exhaling loudly in pure relief. "Pokeball go!" He called out confidently throwing the ball straight at the downed water Pokemon.

It rolled on the ground of a couple of moments; the light in the centre of the ball glowing before it faded and a clicking noise was heard throughout the entire island.

The ball glowed white for a moment before it disappeared the transportation to Professor Oak's laboratory complete.


End file.
